Thoracentesis means surgical puncture to remove fluid from the chest.

• A. Surgical puncture to remove fluid from the chest
• B. Removal of a lung
• C. Incision into the chest wall
• D. Chest X-ray

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested is understanding medical terminology for procedures. Thoracentesis comes from thorac-, meaning chest, and -centesis, meaning a surgical puncture to remove fluid. So it literally describes puncturing the chest to withdraw fluid, typically from the pleural space to drain pleural effusion or to obtain fluid for analysis.

This definition matches the intended procedure: a needle or small catheter is inserted through the chest wall into the pleural cavity to remove fluid. It’s a therapeutic or diagnostic step, not a lung removal, not an incision into the chest wall, and not an imaging test. The other terms refer to different things—removing a lung is a pneumonectomy, incising the chest wall is a thoracotomy, and a chest X-ray is simply an image study.