electrocautery

noun

elec·​tro·​cau·​tery i-ˌlek-trō-ˈkȯ-tə-rē How to pronounce electrocautery (audio)
: cauterization of tissue by means of an instrument heated by an electric current

Examples of electrocautery in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
The treatment: If you're bothered by their appearance and long for the days when your skin was smooth and clear, Dr. Gonzalez says dermatologists can lightly burn these doughnut-looking bumps off with electrocautery, laser them off, or freeze them off with cryotherapy. Women's Health, 2 May 2023 Healthcare providers can use any of the following procedures to remove cherry angiomas:2 Electrocauterization: Also known as electrocautery, this procedure removes unwanted or harmful tissue. Sarah Fielding, Health, 9 Mar. 2023 Cutting into the body, cutting bits out of it, and sewing it back together again may well be as old a practice as making fire, which, for millennia before the invention of electrocautery, provided the means for stanching bleeding. Will Self, Harper’s Magazine , 28 Sep. 2022 Skin tags specifically can be removed in one of three ways: snipping it off with small surgical scissors, burning it (electrocautery), or freezing it (cryosurgery), according to Dr. Jaliman and the AOCD. Madison Yauger, Health.com, 10 June 2021 Precise implant pocket dissection is done using electrocautery to minimize bleeding and trauma. Dallas News, 23 Jan. 2020 Open prostatectomy also offers the advantages of tactile feedback; greater access to the surgical field; less need for electrocautery that burns tissues; and absence of concern about equipment failure or inadvertent tissue injury. WSJ, 24 June 2018 Toyoda went to work in the late afternoon, gingerly using forceps and an electrocautery tool to separate Collins’ old heart from the sticky scar tissue that surrounded it. Tom Avril, Philly.com, 13 June 2018 Lillegard and pediatric cardiovascular surgeon Francis Moga used tweezerlike electrocautery tools to remove the tumor, bit by bit. Emily Sohn, Washington Post, 29 Apr. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of electrocautery was in 1860

Dictionary Entries Near electrocautery

Cite this Entry

“Electrocautery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/electrocautery. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Medical Definition

electrocautery

noun
elec·​tro·​cau·​tery -ˈkȯt-ə-rē How to pronounce electrocautery (audio)
plural electrocauteries
1
: a cautery operated by an electric current
2
: the cauterization of tissue by means of an electrocautery
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