A medical procedure that uses shock waves or mechanical force to break gallstones into smaller pieces that can pass naturally.
From Greek 'chole' (bile) + 'lithos' (stone) + 'tripsis' (crushing). The '-tripsy' suffix means 'crushing or pulverizing.'
This procedure uses the same shock-wave technology developed for kidney stones—it's amazing how medical innovations get borrowed between different organs! Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy revolutionized stone treatment.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.