English

Noun

tarsectomy ‎(plural tarsectomies)

1. (surgery) The operation of removing one or more of the bones of the tarsus (cluster of bones in the foot).
   • 1890, Transactions of the American Surgical Association, Volume 8, page 82,

     That no less than eleven different forms of tarsectomy have been described for the cure of club-foot would seem to show that surgeons have not found any one of these operations giving perfectly satisfactory results.

   • 1995, J.P. Ivory, I.M. Nugent, A.C. Ross, Key Topics in Orthopaedic Surgery, 2005, page 189,

     In the rigid foot with fixed deformity, a wedge tarsectomy or triple arthrodesis with tibialis posterior transfer is necessary.

   • 2012, Piet deBoer, Richard Buckley, Stanley Hoppenfeld, Surgical Exposures in Foot & Ankle Surgery: The Anatomic Approach, page 170,

     Transverse incisions are used best for wedge tarsectomy.

2. (surgery) The operation of removing one or more tarsi (plates of connective tissue, one found in each eyelid).
   • 1995, Bhupendra C. K. Patel, Richard L. Anderson, Levator aponeurosis repair, Thomas C. Naugle, Jr., Richard J. Hesse, Constance L. Fry (editors), Diagnosis and Management of Oculoplastic and Orbital Disorders: Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Symposium, page 25,

     An important advantage of using Whitnall's sling procedure or the superior tarsectomy modification is that the other alternatives are still available if these procedures should give unacceptable results.

   • 2005, Edwina A. McConnell, Teddy Jones, A Stone for Every Journey: Traveling the Life of Elinor Gregg, R.N., page 215,

     One of the more radical treatments, tarsectomy, removes the eyelid's cartilage plate and the result can be inability to fully elevate the lids, just as you feel now.

   • 2011, David T. Tse, Color Atlas of Oculoplastic Surgery, 2nd Edition, page 94,

     As parents are often opposed to surgery on the normal eye, considerable improvement may be obtained and further surgery deferred or avoided if a maximal aponeurotic resection (Whitnall's sling) procedure with a superior tarsectomy is performed first.

Derived terms

• inferior tarsectomy
• superior tarsectomy
• wedge tarsectomy