Definition of "craniotomy" [cra•ni•ot•o•my]

• Surgical incision into the skull. (noun)
• The cutting or breaking of the fetal skull to reduce its size for removal when normal delivery is not possible. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Such an injury requires emergency surgery known as a craniotomy - where a hole is put in the skull, to let the blood out and so release cerebral pressure."
• "The primary reason that doctors removed part of her skull on the left side of her head in the first place in a procedure known as a craniotomy was to ease the stress and pressure on her brain, as swelling was occurring and was expected to continue throughout the first part of her recovery."
• "Uninsured patients were less likely to receive an operation on the nervous system, such as a craniotomy: 34 percent of the insured patients received such surgeries, compared with 25 percent of the uninsured."