operate
v.v. to perform surgery on someone to fix a medical problem or injury.
v. to perform a surgical procedure on a patient to treat an illness or injury.
The surgeon will operate on his shoulder tomorrow.
Because the internal bleeding would not stop, the medical team decided to operate immediately rather than wait for more test results.
Although the spinal fracture was severe, the attending physician chose not to operate, opting instead for a conservative treatment plan involving a specialized brace and extensive physical therapy.
From Latin operātus, perfect passive participle of operor (“to work, labor, toil, have effect”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).
In this medical sense, the verb is intransitive and takes the preposition 'on' to indicate the recipient.