A surgical operation in which a doctor removes part or all of the duodenum, which is the first section of your small intestine.
From duodenum (the first part of the small intestine, from Latin meaning 'twelve' because it's about twelve finger-widths long) plus -ectomy (from Greek ektemnein, 'to cut out'). The term combines anatomical Latin with surgical Greek terminology.
Duodenum got its name from ancient doctors who measured body parts using finger-widths as units—twelve fingers became the standard measurement for this intestinal section! It's one of the few body parts with a measurement literally built into its name.
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