INTERESTING
by Guest Blogger, Patricia Giglio, MS4, Brown Medical School
*This is Part 2 of a 2 part blog. Check here for the first part!
Have you ever left the doctor’s office feeling more confused and worried than when you entered? Or have you left feeling confident, only to realize when you returned home that you did not fully understand everything the doctor said? Or did you simply feel too shy during your visit to interrupt and ask, “what does that mean?!”
Even the best doctors can be confusing. Sometimes conversations with your doctor contain big words and a lot of medical terminology. This guide is written to serve as a resource for patients, and is composed of a collection of commonly used words that patients often find confusing. This short guide is not meant to be comprehensive of all words used in an orthopedic visit.
Knee
the distal femur, proximal tibia and patella all come together to form the knee joint
Tibia: the shinbone, the larger of the two bones in the lower leg
Fibula: the smaller of the two shinbones, located laterally or on the outside of the tibia
Femur: the thighbone
Patella: kneecap
ACL: anterior cruciate ligament attaches to the tibia and femur, prevents the knee from twisting, and stops the tibia from moving too far forward
PCL: posterior cruciate ligament attaches to the tibia and femur, prevents the knee from twisting, and stops the tibia from moving too far backward
MCL: medial collateral ligament connects the femur to the tibia on the inside or medial side of the knee, stabilizes the knee and prevents the femur from moving side to side
LCL: lateral collateral ligament, connects the femur to the fibula on the outside (lateral side) of the knee, stabilizes the knee and prevents the femur from moving side to side
Meniscus: two C-shaped wedges of cartilage that sit between the tibia and femur, and act as shock absorbers or cushions between the two bones in the knee joint
Shoulder
Glenoid Fossa: a shallow cup-like structure that is part of the scapula, the glenoid fossa is the “socket” of the ball-in-socket shoulder joint
Humerus: long bone in the upper arm, the lower end of the humerus is part of the elbow joint and the upper end is the ball of the shoulder joint
Labrum: a fibrous tissue that forms a circular rim around the glenoid (socket) and helps to stabilize the shoulder joint
Rotator Cuff: the rotator cuff consists of four muscles and tendons that stabilize and move the shoulder joint. These muscles are the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis muscles. A tear in any of these muscle tendons can cause pain, instability, weakness, and limited movement.
Surgery
Anesthetic: General anesthesia will put you to sleep during surgery and prevent you from feeling pain. Local anesthetics can also be used to block the feeling of pain in specific areas of the body. Sometimes a nerve block can be used and that may provide longer acting pain relief - even for hours after a surgery
Arthroscopic Surgery: A minimally invasive surgical procedure where the surgeon will use a camera and small tools to visualize and operate on a joint. Orthopedic surgeons typically make 3-5 small incisions (holes about the size of a dime) in the skin to gain access to the joint.
Incision: an open cut made to the skin during surgery
Imaging
Ultrasound: An ultrasound uses high frequency sound waves to create images of the body in real time. A small probe (transducer) is placed on the skin with gel, and sound waves are transmitted from the probe into the body. The waves that bounce back create an image of the internal organs, tendons, and muscles. In the orthopedic office, ultrasound can be used to visualize the joint space during an injection.
X-Ray: X-ray imaging produces pictures of the body by using electromagnetic waves in 2-dimensions. They are most often used to visualize bones.
CT Scan: Computed Tomography uses many x-rays to produce 3-dimensional cross-sectional imaging of the body. CT scans provide excellent pictures of bones.
MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging uses magnetic fields and radio frequencies to produce detailed 3-dimensional images of soft tissue and bone.
