Surgical, Diagnostic, Pathological, and Grammatical Suffixes

Commonly used surgical, diagnostic, pathological, and grammatical suffixes

-ectomy

excision, removal

-centesis

surgical puncture

-tripsy

crushing

-lysis

separation, destruction, loosening

-tomy

incision

-pexy

fixation (of an organ)

-rrhaphy

suture

-plasty

surgical repair

-stomy

forming an opening (mouth)

-desis

binding, fixation (of a bone or joint)

-tome

instrument to cut

-scope

instrument for examining

-scopy

visual examination

-graph

instrument for recording

-graphy

process of recording

-meter

instrument for measuring

-metry

act of measuring

-gram

record, writing

-algia, -dynia

pain

-plasia, plasm

formation, growth

-gen, -genesis

forming, producing, origin

-rrhage, -rrhagia

bursting forth (of)

-edema

swelling

-cele

hernia, swelling

-lith

stone, calculus (stone formed in the body)

-osis

abnormal condition; increase (used primarily with blood cells)

-spasm

involuntary contraction, twitching

-stenosis

narrowing, stricture

-rrhea

discharge, flow

-pathy

disease

-itis

inflammation

-oma

tumor

-rrhexis

rupture

-plegia

paralysis

-ectasis

dilation, expansion

-emesis

vomiting

-emia

blood condition

-iasis

abnormal condition (produced by something specified)

-ac, -al, -ar, -ary, -ic, -ile, -ous

pertaining to

-esis, -ia, -ism

condition

-ician, -ist

specialist

-iatry

medicine, treatment