INTERESTING
by Guest Blogger, Patricia Giglio, MS4, Brown Medical School
*This is Part I of a 2 part blog. Check back for the second part next week!
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.
General Terms
Acute: occurs suddenly, generally more severe (ex: a broken bone from an accident is an acute injury)
Anti-Inflammatory: Medications that reduce swelling, pain, and aggravation. In orthopedics, NSAIDs and steroids are commonly used as anti-inflammatory medications.
Avascular Necrosis: lack of blood supply leading to bone death
Chronic: any condition that develops over a long period of time
Contusion: a bone or soft tissue bruise
Fracture: a partial or complete break in a bone. Doctors will use the word fracture instead of break, but they are the same!
Gout: A form of arthritis caused by the formation of small crystals in the joint, leading to painful attacks of joint swelling and redness.
Injection: The administration of medicine directly into the affected area using a needle and syringe (like a flu shot!). There are two common types of medicine injected in the orthopedic clinic:
1. Corticosteroid Injection: The steroid acts as an anti-inflammatory (see anti-inflammatory) and can help reduce swelling and pain.
2. Hyaluronic Intra-articular injection: (ex: Euflexxa, Synvisc, etc.) This injection is used in patients who have osteoarthritis and have had no relief with other treatment modalities. The medicine is similar to natural substance in the knee, and acts as a lubricant that can reduce pain. It is most commonly used for knee arthritis.
Joint Aspiration: Also called arthrocentesis, aspiration is the removal of fluid from a joint space. In the office setting, this is done by inserting a needle into the joint space, and filling an attached syringe with fluid.
NSAID: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used to reduce pain, fever, and swelling. Common NSAIDs are aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen.
Osteoarthritis: a degenerative disease caused by wear and tear on the joints that worsens overtime
Pathology: the anatomic (structural) or functional changes that are caused by disease
Positive vs. Negative: In medicine, a positive test indicates that there was some abnormality found in the test and a negative test means that the test was considered normal.
Rheumatoid Arthritis: an autoimmune disorder causing joint inflammation
Anatomical Directions
Doctors might use big words to describe the position of an injury on the body. Please use the image for help to understand what the following words mean:
Distal: away from the center
Proximal: closer to the center
Medial: towards the midline of the body
Lateral: away from the midline of the body
Superior: above, towards the head
Inferior: below, toward the feet
Anatomy
Tendon: a fibrous band of connective tissue that connects muscle to bone
Ligament: a fibrous connective tissue that connects two bones or cartilages
Cartilage: firm, flexible, and resilient connective tissue that covers and protects the ends of bones in joints
Come back next week for the conclusion!!
