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Showing results for thoracotomy. Search instead for thalamotomy.

thoracotomy

American  
[thawr-uh-kot-uh-mee, thohr-] / ˌθɔr əˈkɒt ə mi, ˌθoʊr- /

noun

Surgery.
  • thoracotomies
    plural
  1. incision into the chest cavity.


thoracotomy British  
/ ˌθɔːrəˈkɒtəmɪ /

noun

  1. surgical incision into the chest wall

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of thoracotomy

First recorded in 1855–60; thoraco- + -tomy


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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Her condition improved following a further thoracotomy a month later and the University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street was planning to discharge her, the inquest heard.

From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2025

Ms Davis had undergone a thoracotomy operation - a surgical procedure where the chest wall is opened - in the February before her death.

From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2025

After the operation, he suffered from thoracotomy syndrome “where it feels like your nerves are on fire inside of you, they won’t meld together. It’s just horrible.”

From The Guardian ● Oct. 3, 2019

Both Boston Children’s and Mass General, which funded its thoracotomy simulator with a grant from the Department of Defense, plan to sell their simulators and educational training programs to other teaching hospitals across the world.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2015

The recent developments in thoracic surgery have greatly decreased the operative mortality of thoracotomy, so that this operation is to be considered when bronchoscopy has failed.

From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Chevalier Jackson

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