Hemicolectomy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Surgical removal of one side of the large intestine, usually the right or left half of the colon, performed to treat disease such as cancer
2. An operation that cuts out roughly half of the colon, typically to remove diseased tissue and reconnect the healthy sections of bowel
3. A surgical procedure in which one half of the large bowel is excised and the remaining ends are joined together again

Etymology: "Hemicolectomy" is a surgical compound built from two parts. The first, "hemi-", comes from the Ancient Greek "hēmi-", meaning "half", a prefix that English took in directly from Greek. The second, "colectomy", is a medical term for the surgical removal of all or part of the colon, the large intestine. Joining the two gives a precise description: the removal of half of the colon. Surgeons use the word to name a specific operation rather than a general one. A hemicolectomy removes one side of the colon, with the segment and its blood supply taken out, and the remaining ends are reconnected. The exact portion removed depends on where the disease lies, so the prefix tells a surgeon and patient at once how much of the bowel is involved.

Synonyms: partial colectomy