The term -ostomy conveys which concept?

• A. Create entrance to
• B. In the blood
• C. Between two
• D. Pertaining to

Answer: (A)

Suffix -ostomy indicates surgically creating an opening, a stoma, to the outside or to another organ. That’s why the concept tested is creating an entrance to something. The term comes from stoma, meaning an opening, so -ostomy denotes the act of making that opening. It doesn’t relate to blood (that would be -emia), nor to connections between two structures (that’s typically anastomosis), nor simply to a quality like pertaining to (that would be -ic, -al, -ous). Examples include gastrostomy, ileostomy, and colostomy, all describing openings created for feeding or drainage.