laryngoscopy
Meaning of laryngoscopy: Laryngoscopy is a procedure to directly view the larynx, either with a hand held mirror or with a lighted instrument called a laryngoscope.
Definition of laryngoscopy
Laryngoscopy is a procedure used to directly examine the larynx, also called the voice box, the structure in the throat containing the vocal cords. Indirect laryngoscopy uses a small angled mirror held at the back of the throat, along with a light source, to view the larynx without inserting an instrument into the throat itself.
Direct laryngoscopy instead uses a laryngoscope, a lighted instrument passed into the throat, to view the larynx more thoroughly, and it can be performed while a person is awake with local numbing or under general anesthesia. Direct laryngoscopy also allows a clinician to take a tissue sample or remove a small lesion during the same procedure.
Laryngoscopy is used to evaluate symptoms such as persistent hoarseness, difficulty swallowing, or a suspected growth on the vocal cords, and it is also performed routinely as part of placing a breathing tube during general anesthesia.
How laryngoscopy is built
- laryng/o Combining form · Greek larynx, voice box
- -scopy Suffix · Greek visual examination with an instrument
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
Laryngoscopy revealed a lesion on the vocal cord that was subsequently biopsied.
Good to know
Direct laryngoscopy performed to examine the vocal cords for a possible growth is a distinct procedure from the brief laryngoscopy performed routinely to place a breathing tube during anesthesia, even though both use similar instruments.
Word origin
Where “laryngoscopy” comes from
Formed from Greek larynx, meaning the upper part of the windpipe, and -skopein, meaning to look at or examine.