A surgical procedure in which one or more ribs are cut or divided, typically to provide access to the contents of the chest cavity.
From Greek kostos 'rib' plus -tomy 'incision or cutting' (from temnein 'to cut'). A medical procedure term that directly describes cutting through bone.
When you hear that someone had a costotomy, understand they underwent major surgery—surgeons had to literally saw through their ribs, which means weeks of pain management and physical therapy just to breathe normally again.
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