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Medicine vocabulary · Treatments and Procedures

Surgery

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˈsɜːrdʒəri/nounCore term

In medicine, surgery means: Treatment in which a doctor cuts into the body to repair, remove or replace something; also the medical specialty that does this.

In Turkish: ameliyat, cerrahi, cerrahi müdahale

How it is used

Patients have or undergo surgery; surgeons perform it. In British English it is usually uncountable ('She needs surgery'), and a single event is 'an operation'. Common types: emergency, elective, keyhole (laparoscopic) and day surgery.

Example sentences

  1. He'll need surgery to fix the fracture.

  2. She's recovering well after keyhole surgery on her gallbladder.

Common collocations

  • have surgery
  • undergo surgery
  • emergency surgery
  • elective surgery
  • day surgery
  • operating theatreA specially equipped, very clean room in a hospital where surgical operations are carried out.
  • informed consentA patient's agreement to a treatment or procedure, given after the doctor has explained what it involves, its benefits, its risks and the alternatives.
  • complicationA new problem that develops because of an illness or a treatment, making the situation more serious or harder to manage.
  • nil by mouthAn instruction that a patient must not eat or drink anything, usually before surgery or some tests, or when swallowing is unsafe.
  • treatmentThe care, medicine, surgery or other help given to a patient to cure an illness, control it or ease its symptoms.

More terms: Treatments and Procedures

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.