In plain english, a thoracotomy is a surgical procedure in which a person's lungs or chest cavity is opened in order to remove a mass of some type or to stop internal bleeding.

Tho`ra*cot"o*my (?), n. [Gr. , , thorax + to cut.] Surg.

The operation of opening the pleural cavity by incision.

 

© Webster 1913.

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