A surgical procedure in which an incision is made into the caecum to remove blockages or treat disease of that part of the intestine.
From caecum + -tomy (surgical cutting), combining Latin caecus with Greek tome (cutting). This surgical term developed alongside modern surgical techniques in the 19th century.
The difference between -tomy (cutting into) and -stomy (creating an opening) is subtle but crucial in surgery—one is exploratory/corrective, the other creates a permanent passage.
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