![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080925163903im_/http://www.cancer.gov/images/spacer.gif) |
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080925163903im_/http://www.cancer.gov/images/spacer.gif)
(koh-LEK-toh-mee)
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080925163903im_/http://www.cancer.gov/images/spacer.gif)
| An operation to remove all or part of the colon. When only part of the colon is removed, it is called a partial colectomy. In an open colectomy, one long incision is made in the wall of the abdomen and doctors can see the colon directly. In a laparoscopic-assisted colectomy, several small incisions are made and a thin, lighted tube attached to a video camera is inserted through one opening to guide the surgery. Surgical instruments are inserted through the other openings to perform the surgery. |
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080925163903im_/http://www.cancer.gov/images/spacer.gif)
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080925163903im_/http://www.cancer.gov/images/gray_spacer.gif)
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080925163903im_/http://www.cancer.gov/images/spacer.gif)
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080925163903im_/http://www.cancer.gov/images/spacer.gif) |