A surgical procedure involving crushing or fracturing the collarbone, formerly used in childbirth management.
From Greek kleis (collarbone) plus tripsis (a rubbing or crushing). Medical term combining 'tripsy' meaning crushing, used for orthopedic surgery.
Cleidotripsy is even more shocking than cleidotomy—it means crushing the collarbone. Obstetric surgery in the 1800s seems horrifying from modern perspective, but these desperate procedures show how much mothers and doctors wanted to solve the childbirth crisis.
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