Tympanostomy

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surgical operation that creates a small opening in the eardrum to relieve fluid buildup or pressure
2. An intervention involving the insertion of a tiny incision in the tympanic membrane to improve middle ear drainage
3. A medical procedure that establishes an opening in the eardrum to allow air to enter and fluids to drain from the middle ear

Etymology: Tympanostomy is built from two Greek elements. "Tympanon" meant a drum, and in anatomy it came to name the eardrum, which is stretched like a drumskin across the ear canal. The second element, "-stomy," comes from Greek "stoma," meaning mouth or opening, and is used in medicine for surgically creating an opening. Put together, the word describes making a small opening in the eardrum. The shape of the word also shows how medical terms were assembled. Surgeons and anatomists in the modern period drew on classical Greek roots to name procedures that the ancient Greeks themselves never performed, so the word is a coinage from those parts rather than a term in use in antiquity. Its clipped form, with the vowel linking "tympano" to "stomy," follows the same pattern as many other surgical names.

Synonyms: ventilation tube insertion