Surgical procedure (9)
I believe the answer is:
operation
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">surgical procedure</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(synonyms)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for operation that I've seen before include "running" , "performance" , "Action; process" , "military undertaking" , "Handling" .)