laparotomy

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

laparotomy
    n 1: surgical incision into the abdominal wall; often done to
         examine abdominal organs

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Laparotomy \Lap`a*rot"o*my\, n. [Gr. ? loins + te`mnein to cut.]
   (Surg.)
   A cutting through the walls of the abdomen, as in the
   Caesarean section.
   [1913 Webster]