What does cystectomy mean?
A cystectomy is a surgical operation in which the urinary bladder is removed, either wholly or partially, most often as treatment for bladder cancer. The adjective 'radical' denotes removal of the entire bladder along with nearby organs and lymph nodes, while a partial cystectomy removes only the diseased portion. The term derives from the Greek kystis ('bladder' or 'pouch') and ektomē ('excision'), and it can more broadly describe the surgical removal of any cyst, as in an ovarian cystectomy. Patients who lose their bladder typically need a urostomy or a reconstructed reservoir to pass urine, which makes cystectomy one of the more consequential operations in urology. It belongs firmly to medical register and appears chiefly in clinical notes, consent forms, and health journalism rather than casual speech.
nounA surgical operation to remove all or part of the urinary bladder; more generally, the surgical excision of a cyst.
- Surgical removal of all or part of the urinary bladder, typically to treat bladder cancer.
- Surgical excision of a cyst.
"After the tumour was found to be invasive, the surgeon recommended a radical cystectomy."
"Following the diagnosis of muscle-invasive cancer, he underwent a radical cystectomy."
"An ovarian cystectomy is performed to remove the cyst while preserving the ovary."
The plural is regular (-ies), formed like other '-y' nouns; it appears mainly in statistics and clinical literature discussing multiple procedures.
"Over five hundred cystectomies are performed at the hospital each year."
The word comes straight from Greek: kystis means 'bladder' or 'pouch', so a cystectomy literally means 'cutting out the pouch' — and surgeons still use that ancient logic today.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cystectomy
Cystectomy comes from the Greek kystis, meaning 'bladder' or 'pouch' — originally applied to the urinary bladder — combined with ektomē, meaning 'excision' or 'cutting out'. The compound entered English through Latinised Greek medical terminology during the nineteenth century, when modern surgical vocabulary was being standardised on classical roots. It shares this heritage with a family of '-ectomy' terms such as appendectomy and hysterectomy, all denoting the surgical removal of an organ or structure.
How cystectomy is actually used
Strictly a medical term, used in clinical and formal contexts rather than everyday conversation. In modern practice 'cystectomy' almost always refers to bladder removal unless another organ is specified (e.g. ovarian cystectomy); when the whole bladder is removed the term 'radical cystectomy' is used.
Easily confused with cystectomy
Cystectomy is the surgical removal of the bladder or a cyst, whereas cystoscopy is only a diagnostic examination of the bladder using a scope.
Cystectomy removes the bladder entirely, while cystostomy creates an opening into the bladder to drain it.