Definition

A medical procedure that breaks down kidney stones or gallstones into smaller pieces so they can be easily removed from the body.

Example

The doctor recommended lithotripsy to treat the patient's kidney stones.

Conversation

I heard you had a procedure recently; was it lithotripsy?

Yeah, it was! They used shock waves to break up my kidney stones.

That sounds intense! Did it hurt afterwards?

Not really, just a bit of discomfort, but it’s much better now.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Lithotripsy → It is formed from "litho-" (from Greek "lithos", meaning stone) and "tripsy" (from Greek "tripsis", meaning to crush). The word describes a medical procedure that crushes stones, typically in the kidneys or bladder.

Memory Tip

Think of 'stone' ('lithos') being 'crushed' ('tripsis') — that's what lithotripsy means, a procedure to crush stones in the body.

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