splenectomy
Meaning of splenectomy: A splenectomy is a surgical procedure that removes all or part of the spleen, performed for injury, disease, or certain blood disorders.
Definition of splenectomy
Splenectomy is the surgical removal of the spleen, an organ located in the upper left abdomen that filters blood and supports immune function. The procedure can be performed as an open operation through a single incision or laparoscopically through several small incisions.
A splenectomy may be performed after a traumatic injury that has damaged the spleen, for certain blood disorders in which the spleen destroys blood cells at an abnormal rate, or as part of treatment for some cancers affecting the spleen. In some cases only a portion of the spleen is removed, known as a partial splenectomy.
Because the spleen plays a role in defending against certain bacterial infections, people who have had a splenectomy face a higher lifelong risk of specific infections and are typically monitored accordingly.
How splenectomy is built
- splen/o Combining form · Greek spleen
- -ectomy Suffix · Greek surgical removal, excision
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
The trauma surgeon performed an emergency splenectomy after imaging showed an actively bleeding splenic laceration.
Good to know
A total splenectomy removes the entire organ, while a partial splenectomy preserves some spleen tissue and its function, which affects the degree of increased infection risk afterward.
Word origin
Where “splenectomy” comes from
Formed from splen-, from Greek splen, meaning "spleen," and -ectomy, from Greek ektome, meaning "a cutting out."