California Certifying Board for Medical Assistants (CCBMA) Practice Test

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What does the suffix '-ostomy' indicate?

Surgical opening
Removal
Incision
Repair

The correct answer is: Surgical opening

The suffix '-ostomy' indicates the creation of a surgical opening. This term is commonly used in medical procedures that involve forming an artificial opening for bodily fluids or waste to exit the body, such as in procedures like colostomy or ileostomy. Understanding the components of this term is crucial for medical assistants, as it describes the action taken during surgical interventions and plays a significant role in medical documentation, patient education, and understanding surgical reports. The other terms relate to different surgical actions: removal involves excising tissue, incision refers to cutting into tissue, and repair indicates mending a part of the body, which do not encompass the notion of creating an opening that '-ostomy' captures.