Surgical vs. non-surgical
This Editorial Guide is used for Education Purposes Only. It is used in the Authoring Courses and Certifications. It is based on the January 2026 Editorial Guide.
As mentioned in the initial Surgical procedures page, the definition of surgical procedure includes intentional non-transient alteration of structures of the body and/or necessarily involves cutting into the body.
Non-surgical actions do not significantly or non-transiently alter anatomy and do not necessarily involve cutting or incision.
For example,
Fine needle biopsy (procedure) or brush biopsy (procedure)
Phlebotomy, a synonym for venipuncture for blood test (procedure)
Aspiration (procedure)
Closed reduction of dislocation (procedure)
Closed procedure naming
The general pattern <open, closed> is accepted
When a procedure is specified as closed, the closed procedure should be fully described, e.g. fine needle biopsy, endoscopic, etc.
Under Revision
48635004 |Fine needle biopsy (procedure)| could be viewed as a kind of centesis , but the former is non-surgical and the latter is surgical. Sampling - action (qualifier value), in general, is not necessarily a surgical action. If sampling involves the surgical removal of part of something, then Surgical biopsy (procedure) should be the action.
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