Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Surgical incision into the skull.
  • noun The cutting or breaking of the fetal skull to reduce its size for removal when normal delivery is not possible.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In obstetrics, an operation in which the fetal head is opened when it presents an obstacle to delivery.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) The operation of opening the fetal head, in order to effect delivery.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun surgery The surgical procedure for removing a part of the skull, called a bone flap, prior to a treatment. The bone flap is replaced at the end of the operation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a surgical opening through the skull

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

cranio- + -tomy

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Examples

  • Such an injury requires emergency surgery known as a craniotomy - where a hole is put in the skull, to let the blood out and so release cerebral pressure.

    The Guardian World News 2011

  • The primary reason that doctors removed part of her skull on the left side of her head in the first place in a procedure known as a craniotomy was to ease the stress and pressure on her brain, as swelling was occurring and was expected to continue throughout the first part of her recovery.

    ABC News: Top Stories 2011

  • When I was told a hole had opened in the original craniotomy, and I had to have another brain surgery, my faith was not tested as much as my credulity.

    Rabbi David Wolpe: Really, Again? Rabbi David Wolpe 2010

  • When I was told a hole had opened in the original craniotomy, and I had to have another brain surgery, my faith was not tested as much as my credulity.

    Rabbi David Wolpe: Really, Again? Rabbi David Wolpe 2010

  • When I was told a hole had opened in the original craniotomy, and I had to have another brain surgery, my faith was not tested as much as my credulity.

    Rabbi David Wolpe: Really, Again? Rabbi David Wolpe 2010

  • When I was told a hole had opened in the original craniotomy, and I had to have another brain surgery, my faith was not tested as much as my credulity.

    Rabbi David Wolpe: Really, Again? Rabbi David Wolpe 2010

  • When I was told a hole had opened in the original craniotomy, and I had to have another brain surgery, my faith was not tested as much as my credulity.

    Rabbi David Wolpe: Really, Again? Rabbi David Wolpe 2010

  • Uninsured patients were less likely to receive an operation on the nervous system, such as a craniotomy: 34 percent of the insured patients received such surgeries, compared with 25 percent of the uninsured.

    Health Care, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • When I was told a hole had opened in the original craniotomy, and I had to have another brain surgery, my faith was not tested as much as my credulity.

    Rabbi David Wolpe: Really, Again? Rabbi David Wolpe 2010

  • I'm coming up on the three-year anniversary of my craniotomy -- for brain tumor surgery -- and the milestone has made me think about the brain, how it works, how fragile it is and how digital technology has reshaped it.

    Marian Salzman: Headstrong, Part IV: Braininess Re-examined 2010

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