Surgical Procedure Suffixes

Suffixes and Meanings

-centesis: surgical puncture to remove fluid. Examples: abdomino/centesis (belly), cranio/centesis (skull).
-ec/tom/y: out/cut/procedure or removal. Examples: ex/cis/ion (to cut out); hysterectomy (uterus/removal).
-o/pex/y: to fixate, position, or attach. Examples: salpingo/pex/y (tube/repositioned), nephro/pex/y (kidney/repositioned).
-oplast/y: plastic surgery (to improve function, looks, or relieve pain). Example: rhino/plast/y (nose repair).
-o/rrhaph/y: surgically to suture or repair. Example: nephro/rrhaphy (kidney/suture).
-o/tom/y: cutting into, to open, make incision. Example: tracheo/tom/y (windpipe/cut into).
-os/tom/y: new permanent opening or mouth. Example: col/ostom/y (colon/opening).
-o/tripsy: crushing or destroying. Examples: litho/tripsy (stone/crushing); neuro/trips/y (nerve/crushing).
-o/desis: binding or stabilization. Example: arthro/desis (joint/binding).
-clasis: to break down. Example: osteo/clasis (bone/refactoring).
-lysis: to loosen (free from adhesion) or destroy. Example: entero/lysis (intestine/destroyed).
-cis: to cut. Example: circum/cis/ion (around/cut).
-cide: to kill. Examples: herbi/cide (plant/kill); pesti/cide (pest/kill); germi/cid/al (bacteria/kill).
-stasis: to stop or control. Example: hemo/stasis (blood/controlling or stoppage).
-sis: medical condition or disease. Example: necro/sis (death or dying/condition).
-age: something is related to. Examples: mass/age (kneading/relates to); tri/age (sorting/relates to).
-iatr/y: to treat, to heal or cure. Example: psychiatry (mind/treat or cure).
-therap/y: to treat or cure. Example: chemo/therap/y (chemical/treatment); hydro/therap/y (water/treatment).
-sect/ion: to cut or make several slices. Example: hepato/sect/ion (liver/several cuts).