Meaning & use
cholecystectomy
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablemedicaltechnical
A surgical operation in which a doctor removes a person's gallbladder.
Grammar: Countable: one operation is 'a cholecystectomy', several are 'cholecystectomies'.
Patterns
- have a cholecystectomy
- perform a cholecystectomy
- undergo a cholecystectomy for something
She had a cholecystectomy last spring and was home within two days.
Doctors may recommend a cholecystectomy when gallstones cause repeated pain.
The surgeon performed an emergency cholecystectomy on the elderly patient.
Word forms
| plural | cholecystectomies |
|---|
Common combinations
- laparoscopic cholecystectomy
- A laparoscopic cholecystectomy uses several small cuts instead of one large one.
- open cholecystectomy
- An open cholecystectomy may be needed if the gallbladder is badly infected.
- undergo a cholecystectomy
- He had to undergo a cholecystectomy after months of attacks.
- recover from a cholecystectomy
- Most people recover from a cholecystectomy in a few weeks.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gallbladder removal
- Plain everyday wording; use it when writing for patients rather than for medical professionals.
Word family
- cholecystitis noun
- Inflammation of the gallbladder, often the reason the operation is needed.
- cholecyst noun
- A medical term for the gallbladder itself.
- cystectomy noun
- Removal of a bladder or cyst; a different operation with a similar ending.
Commonly confused: cholecystectomy or cholecystitis? cholecystectomy or colectomy?
cholecystectomy vs cholecystitis
Cholecystitis is the illness (an inflamed gallbladder); cholecystectomy is the operation that removes it.
cholecystectomy vs colectomy
A colectomy removes part of the colon, not the gallbladder, though the words sound alike.
Practice
A patient with painful gallstones was told she needed a cholecystectomy. What will happen to her?
Choose one answer.
A cholecystectomy is the removal of the gallbladder, so B fits. A colectomy removes colon tissue, and an appendectomy removes the appendix, so those options name different operations.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cholecystectomy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.