Plural form; surgical procedures in which all or part of a joint is removed or excised.
From 'arthro-' (joint) + '-ectomy' (surgical removal). The plural form indicates multiple such procedures, following standard surgical naming conventions.
Arthrectomies sound drastic, but sometimes surgeons remove a diseased joint to relieve severe pain and install an artificial replacement—it's one of the most successful surgeries humans have invented, giving elderly people their mobility back.
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