extraocular
Meaning of extraocular: Extraocular describes structures or movements located outside the eyeball itself, such as the muscles that direct eye movement.
Definition of extraocular
Extraocular means located outside the eyeball. The term most commonly refers to the extraocular muscles, a group of muscles attached to the outer surface of each eye that control its movement in different directions, allowing coordinated gaze, tracking, and focus on a moving object.
Extraocular can also describe structures, findings, or disease processes situated near but outside the eyeball, including surrounding orbital tissue, eyelids, and certain tumors that extend beyond the eye itself. Assessing extraocular movements is a routine part of a neurologic and ophthalmologic examination, since abnormalities in these movements can point to problems with the muscles themselves, the nerves that control them, or the brain regions that coordinate eye movement.
The term stands in contrast to intraocular, which describes structures and findings located within the eyeball.
How extraocular is built
- extra- Prefix · Latin outside, beyond
- ocul/o, ophthalm/o Combining form · Latin and Greek eye
- -ac, -al, -ar, -ary, -eal, -ic Suffix · Greek and Latin pertaining to, relating to
A medical term is read from its ending backwards: the suffix first, then the prefix, then the root. See all 223 word parts.
Used in a sentence
Extraocular movements were tested in all directions during the neurologic examination.
Good to know
Extraocular muscle weakness can result from a problem in the muscle itself, at the neuromuscular junction, or along the nerves that control it, so the finding alone does not identify the underlying cause.
Word origin
Where “extraocular” comes from
Formed from extra- (Latin, meaning "outside") and ocular, from Latin oculus, meaning "eye."