Procedure and Surgery Terms

A procedure used to improve the way certain skin problems look.

A chemical peel applies a solution to the skin to remove its outer layers, improving the appearance of scars, wrinkles, or sun damage.

A procedure in which the blood supply to the tumor is blocked surgically or mechanically and anticancer drugs are administered directly into the tumor.

A colectomy is a surgical procedure that removes all or part of the colon to treat disease or injury affecting that organ.

A surgical procedure in which the colon is attached to the anus after the rectum has been removed.

A surgical procedure in which the colon is attached to the anus after the rectum has been removed.

The only bowel test that both finds a polyp and removes it, which is why it prevents cancer rather than merely detecting it.

Surgery to remove the entire uterus, including the cervix.

Surgery to remove all metastases (tumors formed from cells that have spread from the primary tumor).

Removal of a cone of cervix that doubles as test and treatment, taking the abnormal area and the diagnosis away in one piece.

A procedure that bathes the abdominal cavity in fluid that contains anticancer drugs.

The administration of a fluid into a blood vessel, usually over a prolonged period of time.

An operation on the vocal cords or on the spinal cord.

A craniotomy creates a temporary opening in the skull to give surgeons direct access to the brain for a planned neurosurgical procedure.

Cryoablation destroys abnormal tissue by freezing it precisely, offering an alternative to heat based or open surgical tissue removal.

Cryosurgery destroys abnormal or diseased tissue by freezing it, most often with liquid nitrogen or a pressurized cooling gas.

A procedure in which tissue is frozen to destroy abnormal cells.

Depending on the organ involved, a cystectomy may mean either removing the entire urinary bladder or removing a cyst from a different organ.

Removing the bladder means inventing a replacement for it, and that reconstruction shapes recovery more than the removal does.

Ultrasound and CT show the bladder wall from outside; only a look inside reveals flat patches of abnormal lining.