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Medical Terminology · Chapter 2

The Operative Suffix Board

Procedure suffixes are precise verbs: -ectomy removes, -tomy cuts in, -stomy makes a lasting opening, -plasty rebuilds, -pexy anchors, -rrhaphy sutures, -desis fuses, -centesis drains and -tripsy crushes. Read what the surgeon actually did, choose the address and the verb, and the board applies the combining vowel rule for you.

The operation

Choose the root — the address
Choose the suffix — the verb

Your term

—
pick a root and a suffix
The anchor trio — three endings, three bills
colectomy removes the colon. colotomy cuts into it and closes it again. colostomy brings it to the skin as an opening meant to stay. Say those three cold and the pattern transfers to every organ in the body — including the classic pair tracheotomy (the incision) against tracheostomy (the maintained opening).