Definition

Noun: A surgical procedure involving the incision or division of a muscle.

Usage

Myotomy is a technical medical term. It is used to describe a specific type of surgical operation performed by a surgeon. The word is typically found in medical reports, textbooks, and discussions among healthcare professionals.

Examples

• The surgeon performed a myotomy to relieve the patient's chronic muscle contracture.
• A Heller myotomy is a common treatment for achalasia, a disorder of the esophagus.
• The procedure notes indicated a successful laparoscopic myotomy.

Advanced Usage

• Pyloromyotomy: A specific type of myotomy performed on the pylorus muscle of the stomach, often to treat infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis.
• Cricopharyngeal myotomy: A procedure to cut the cricopharyngeus muscle in the throat to improve swallowing.

Variants and Related Words

• Myotomist (noun): A surgeon who specializes in or performs myotomies.
• Myotome (noun): 1. In surgery, an instrument used for performing a myotomy. 2. In embryology and anatomy, the group of muscles derived from one somite and innervated by a single spinal nerve segment.

Synonyms

• Muscle incision
• Muscle division (surgical)

Notes on Meaning

The term myotomy refers strictly to the surgical cutting of muscle tissue. It is distinct from other procedures like a myectomy (surgical removal of muscle) or myoplasty (surgical repair of muscle). The context usually specifies which muscle is involved (e.g., esophageal myotomy, pyloric myotomy).

Noun

1. surgical incision or division of a muscle