Surgical Procedures

Question 1

-ectomy

Answer 1

Resection or cutting out of all or part of an organ for therapeutic, diagnostic, and staging purposes

Question 2

-otomy

Answer 2

Opening of a cavity

Question 3

-oscopy

Answer 3

Using an endoscopic instrument to examine a hollow or tubular organ or space

Question 4

Biopsy

Answer 4

Taking a small sample of a tissue for diagnostic purposes; can come from any organ or tissue

Question 5

Incisional biopsy

Answer 5

Taking only part of a lesion for diagnosis

Question 6

Excisional biopsy

Answer 6

Removing the entire lesion for diagnosis and treatment

Question 7

Resection/excision

Answer 7

Removing all or part (segmental resection of a tissue or organ for therapeutic purposes

Question 8

Dissection

Answer 8

Removal of a group of lymph nodes in a specific location (usually neck, axilla, or groin) along with surrounding fibro-fatty and vascular tissue; implies that multiple nodes are present, which must be dissected and examined microscopically

Question 9

Staging procedure

Answer 9

Sampling many lymph node groups and/or biopsying multiple organs to determine the presence of tumor metastasis

Question 10

Explant

Answer 10

Native organ that was removed for the purpose of transplanting a new organ

Question 11

-plasty

Answer 11

“Plastic” repair of a tissue or organ, and may or may not involve tissue removal

Question 12

Anastomosis

Answer 12

Rejoining the ends of a tubular or hollow structure after removal of a segment

Question 13

Fine needle aspiration

Answer 13

Percutaneous procedure that uses a fine needle and a syringe to sample fluid from a breast cyst or remove clusters of cells from a solid organ

Question 14

Core needle biopsy

Answer 14

Procedure that removes small but solid samples of tissue using a hollow “core” needle

Question 15

Open surgical biopsy

Answer 15

Removal of a large mass or lump during a surgical procedure; requires a 3-5cm incision

Question 16

Shave biopsy

Answer 16

Removal of a tangential “shave” of skin using a small scalpel blade or curved razor blade; ideal for basal cell cancer

Question 17

Punch biopsy

Answer 17

Removal of a full-thickness section of skin using a round shaped knife ranging in size from 1mm to 8mm; ideal for squamous cell carcinoma, melanomas, and inflammatory skin conditions

Question 18

Incisional biopsy

Answer 18

Removal of an elliptical full-thickness section of skin using a scalepl; ideal for deep pannicular skin diseases and lower extremities

Question 19

Excisional biopsy

Answer 19

Identical to an incisional biopsy, except the entire lesion or tumor is removed; ideal for diagnosis of small melanomas