Looking for information on the meaning of ablation? If so, keep reading — here’s our complete guide on the word ablation.
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Kevin
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April 13, 2022
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Common Questions
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If you’re preparing to get surgery, you’ll likely come across a number of medical terms that may cause some confusion — ablation is one of those terms.
In this article, we’re exploring the word ablation to uncover its definition, synonyms, antonyms, and more. If you’ve ever wondered what your doctor means when saying “ablation,” keep reading. Here’s our complete guide on ablation.
What Is the Definition of Ablation?
To help you best understand the meaning of ablation, we’ve put together a shortlist of definitions provided by a few well-known and trusted dictionaries:
- According to the Cambridge Dictionary, ablation is the loss of ice or snow from an iceberg or glacier or the loss of rock or similar material caused by a process such as erosion or melting.
- In addition, the Cambridge Dictionary says ablation can also refer to a medical treatment that involves cutting away a small amount of tissue from the body.
- The Oxford English Dictionary defines ablation as surgery to remove body tissue, the erosion of rock, typically by wind actions, and the loss of surface material from a spacecraft or meteorite through melting or evaporation caused by friction with the atmosphere.
- When used as a noun, Dictionary.com defines ablation as the removal — especially of abnormal growths, organs, or harmful substances — from the body by mechanical means via surgery.
- Like the Cambridge Dictionary, Dictionary.com says ablation can also be defined as reducing the volume of glacial ice, snow, or névé by the combined processes of melting, evaporation, and calving.
Although ablation has many definitions, it’s most commonly used today as a medical term to describe the surgical removal or destruction of a body part or tissue or its function.
Types of Medical Ablation
Some of the most common types of ablation include:
- Atrial fibrillation ablation
- Cryoablation for cancer
- Laser PVP surgery
- Radiofrequency neurotomy
Catheter ablation — aka pulmonary vein ablation or radiofrequency ablation — is also a common type of ablation. It involves a small, flexible tube called a catheter slowly threaded through a tiny vein in your leg or chest and into your heart.
The tip of the flexible tube is outfitted with a medical tool that ablates the abnormal tissue — either with heat or by freezing — to restore the heart’s normal rhythm.
What Are the Synonyms and Antonyms of Ablation?
When looking to expand your overall knowledge of a term, it can be helpful to review its synonyms and antonyms. Synonyms and antonyms are not only great tools to help cement the meaning of a word into your mind, but they can diversify your written and spoken language.
Synonyms of ablation include:
- Cutting out
- Excision
- Extirpation
- Abscission
- Removal
- Cutting
- Severing
- Dismembering
Antonyms of ablation include:
- Strength
- Effortless
- Addition
- Merging
- Retention
- Insertion
- Enrollment
What Are Examples of Ablation in a Sentence?
Now that we’ve covered the definitions, synonyms, and antonyms of ablation, it’s time to put your newfound knowledge to the test.
Quiz yourself using our word of the day to see how many sentences you can come up with using the word ablation. To get you going, check out our example sentences listed below:
After ablation surgery, you’ll likely experience some abdominal pain, so you may want to do some ablation therapy.
My doctor says the atrial flutter that I’ve been experiencing should go away after laser ablation.
Sarah’s healthcare provider administered general anesthesia before starting the ablation procedure.
Dr. Smith told warned my dad that if his AFib goes untreated and he continues to decline ablation surgery, his odds of blood clots, heart failure, heart disease, and stroke increase.
After finding a tumor on my thyroid, the surgeon suggested an ablation procedure to have it removed.
More often than not, invasive procedures like endometrial ablation require a local anesthetic to numb the area where the catheter or needle will be inserted.
My cardiologist wants me to get an X-ray before deciding if ablation surgery is the correct treatment option.
Since you have a pacemaker or implanted defibrillator, you must ask the doctor about any precautions.
Following ablation surgery, the doc said you needed to refrain from taking any blood thinners.
Your nurse from the ablation procedure just called; she said you could resume normal activities after six to eight weeks of rest.
If you have one of the many medical conditions that can greatly affect the quality of your life, talk to your doctor to see if ablation therapy is a good option for you.
Summary
As you may have noticed, ablation has more than one meaning.
In medicine, ablation can refer to removing a body part or tissue. In aerospace, our word of the day can be defined as erosion of a spacecraft’s protective outer surface (ablator) due to aerodynamic heating. In geology, ablation is the loss of a part (such as ice from a glacier) by melting or vaporization.
We hope this guide has provided you with a clear understanding of the word ablation and its many meanings. To discover more interesting words, head on over to our website to find helpful grammar tips and useful tools.
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