neuroma
Meaning of neuroma: A neuroma is a benign growth composed of nerve tissue that can develop after nerve injury or arise along an existing nerve pathway.
Definition of neuroma
A neuroma is a noncancerous growth or thickening involving nerve tissue. Some neuromas form as a disorganized regrowth of nerve fibers after a nerve has been cut or injured, producing a small mass at the site of injury.
Other neuromas develop along an intact nerve without prior injury, such as an acoustic neuroma, which grows on the nerve responsible for hearing and balance. A neuroma can cause pain, tingling, or numbness in the area supplied by the affected nerve, depending on its size and location.
Because a neuroma is composed of nerve tissue rather than the surrounding structures, it is evaluated and managed differently from growths that arise in skin, bone, or connective tissue.
How neuroma is built
- neur/o Combining form · Greek nerve, nervous system
- -oma Suffix · Greek tumour, mass, swelling
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
A tender neuroma was identified at the site of the prior amputation.
Good to know
A traumatic neuroma forms after a nerve is cut or injured, while a neuroma such as an acoustic neuroma arises along an intact nerve without a preceding injury.
Word origin
Where “neuroma” comes from
Formed from neuro-, from Greek neuron, meaning "nerve," and -oma, meaning "tumor" or "mass."