Meaning & use
intraoperative
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivebefore a nounmedicalspecialist
Happening or done while a surgical operation is in progress.
Grammar: Used before a noun: intraoperative care, intraoperative findings. Not usually after a verb.
Patterns
- intraoperative care
- intraoperative complications
- intraoperative imaging
The surgeon reviewed the intraoperative images before closing the incision.
Intraoperative bleeding was controlled with a small clamp.
Her intraoperative notes recorded a change in the planned procedure.
Common combinations
- intraoperative care
- Good intraoperative care reduces the risk of infection.
- intraoperative complications
- The team was ready to manage any intraoperative complications.
- intraoperative imaging
- Intraoperative imaging helped the surgeon see the tumor clearly.
- intraoperative bleeding
- They used a laser to limit intraoperative bleeding.
Synonyms and how they differ
- perioperative
- This covers the whole period around surgery, including before and after, so it is broader than intraoperative.
- surgical
- This simply relates to surgery in general and does not specify the timing during the operation.
Opposites
Word family
- operation noun
- A surgical procedure.
- operative adjective
- Relating to an operation or surgery.
- postoperative adjective
- Happening after surgery.
- preoperative adjective
- Happening before surgery.
Commonly confused: intraoperative or postoperative? intraoperative or preoperative?
intraoperative vs postoperative
Postoperative means after surgery, while intraoperative means during surgery. They describe different stages of care.
intraoperative vs preoperative
Preoperative means before surgery, not during it. Check the prefix to get the timing right.
Practice
The patient's blood pressure dropped suddenly during the operation. Which word best describes this event?
Choose one answer.
Intraoperative means during the operation, which matches the timing. Preoperative and postoperative refer to before and after surgery, and interoperative is not a standard medical term.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “intraoperative”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.