The building blocks of English

Affixes

crani(o)-

The cranium.

Greek kranion, skull.

In medicine, cranioscopy is the observation and examination of the skull; craniectomy (Greek ektomē, excision) is surgical removal of a portion of it; craniotomy (Greek ‑tomia, cutting) is any surgical incision into it, say to reduce pressure; and cranioplasty is plastic surgery carried out on it. The usual adjective is cranial.