operation (op-er-a's hun)

The performance of any act; in surgery, of a manual act upon the body, generally with instruments; also the act thus performed. bloodle o. An o. performed with the use of Esmarch's bandage, ligatures, and hemostatic forceps so as to prevent the lo of blood, buttonhole o. External ure thro to my. cesarean o. See cesarian operation, under separate heading. [Lat., sectio caesarea.] elective o. An o. which the patient chooses to have done, but which is not absolutely required; also one in which the particular procedure is a matter of choice with the operator. plastic o. An o. that has for its object the construction of absent parts, or the replacement or removal of deformed parts, subcutaneous o. An o. in which either there is no external wound or the external wound is made at a distance from the seat of o. and in such a way as not to expose the field of o. to the action of the air. For operations distinguished by the names of individuals, see under separate headings. [Lat., operatio, from operari, to work.]