Med terms- Musculoskeletal system

Orthopedics, Orthopedist

Deals with the majority of musculoskeletal disorders

Rheumatology, Rheumatologist

Deals with disorders of connective tissue, including bone and cartilage

Physiatry/Physical medicine, Physiatrist

Concerns diagnosis and treatment of disease or injury with the use of physical agents such as exercise, heat, massage, and light

Osteodynia

Bone pain (osteo/o: bone, -dynia: pain)

Osteitis deformans

Misshaped bone resulting from inflammation. Also known as Paget disease (oste/o: bone, -itis: inflammation, deformans: misshapen)

Osteomalacia

Softening of bone caused by loss of minerals from the bony matrix as a result of vitamin D deficiency. When osteomalacia occurs in childhood, it is called rickets. (oste/o: bone, -malacia: softening)

Osteomyelitis

Inflammation of the bone and bone marrow (oste/o: bone, myel/o: bone marrow, -itis: inflammation)

Osteoporosis

Loss of bone mass, which results in the bones being fragile and at risk for fractures. Ostepenia refers to a less severe bone mass loss. (oste/o: bone, por/o: passage, -osis: abnormal condition, -penia: deficiency)

Chondromalacia

Softening of the cartilage (chondr/o: cartilage, -malacia: softening)

Costochondritis

Inflammation of the cartilage of the ribs (cost/o: rib, chondr/o: cartilage, -itis: inflammation)

Arthrosis

Abnormal condition of a joint; may be hemarthrosis, hydrarthrosis, or pyarthrosis (blood, fluid, or pus respectively, in a joint cavity) (arthr/o: joint, -osis: abnormal condition)

Baker cyst

Cyst of synovial fluid in the popliteal area of leg; often associated with rheumatoid arthritis (cyst/o: sac, bladder)

Bunion

Fairly common, painful enlargement and inflammation of the first metatarsophalangeal joint (the base of the great toe) (bunion/o: bunion)

Bursitis

Inflammaiton of the bursa (burs/o: bursa, -itis: inflammaiton)

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)

Compression injury that manifests itself as fluctuating pain, numbness, and paresthesias of the hand caused by compression of the medial nerve at the wrist (carp/o: wrist bone, -al: pertaining to, syn-: joined together, -drome: to run)

Crepitus

Crackling sound heard in joints (crepit/o: crackling, -us: thing)

Osteoarthritis (OA)

Joint disease characterized by degenerative articular cartilage and a wearing down of the bones’ edges at a joint; considered a “wear and tear” disorder. Also called degenerative joint disease (DJD) (oste/o: bone, arthr/o: joint, -itis: inflammation)

Osteophytosis

Abnormal bone growth in a joint. Heberden nodes are osteophytes of the interphalangeal joints in rheumatoid arthritis (oste/o: bone, phyt/o: growth nature, -osis: abnormal condition)

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

Inflammatory joint disease believed to be autoimmune in nature; occurs in a much younger population (20-45) than OA (rheumat/o: watery flow, -oid: full of, like, arthr/o: joint, -itis: inflammation)

Scleroderma

Connective tissue disorder that causes hardening and thickening of the skin (scler/o: hard, derm/o: skin, -a: noun ending)

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Chronic, systemic inflammation of unknown etiology (cause). Characterized by distinctive red, butterfly-like, rash on nose and cheeks. Also called disseminated lupus erythematosus (DLE)

Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ)

Dysfunctional temporomandibular joint, accompanied by gnathalgia, or jaw pain (tempor/o: temporal bone, mandibul/o: lower jaw, -ar: pertaining to)

Tendinitis

Inflammation of a tendon (tendin/o: tendon, -itis: inflammation)

Ankylosing spindylitis

Chronic inflammatory disease of idiopathic origin, which causes a fusion of the spine (

Herniated intervertebral disk

Protrusion of the central part of the disk that lies between the vertebrae, resulting in compression of the nerve root and pain (inter-: between, vertebr/o: vertebra, -al: abnormal condition)

Kyphosis

Extreme posterior curvature of the thoracic area of the spine (kyph/o: round back, -osis: abnormal condition)

Lordosis

Swayback; exaggerated anterior curve of the lumbar vertebrae (lower back) (lord/o: swayback, -osis: abnormal condition)

Scoliosis

Lateral S curve of the spine that can cause an individual to lose inches in height (scoli/o: curvature, -osis: abnormal condition)

Spinal stenosis

Abnormal condition of narrowing of the spinal canal with attendant pain, sometimes caused by osteoarthritis or spondylolisthesis (spin/o: spine, -al: pertaining to, stenosis: abnormal condition of narrowing)

Spondylolisthesis

Condition resulting from the partial forward dislocation of one vertebra over the one beneath it (spondyl/o: vertebra, -listhesis: slipping)

Spondylosis

An abnormal condition characterized by stiffening of the vertebral joints (spondyl/o: vertebra, -osis: abnormal condition)

Chondroma

Benign tumor of the cartilage, usually occurring in children and adolescents (chondr/o: cartilage, -oma: tumor, mass)

Exostosis

Abnormal condition of bony growth. Also called hyper

Leiomyoma

Benign tumor of smooth muscle. The most common leiomyoma is in the uterus and is termed a fibroid (leiomy/o: smooth muscle, -oma: tumor, mass)

Osteoma

Benig bone tumor, usually of compact bone (oste/o: bone, -oma: tumor, mass)

Rhabdomyoma

Benign tumor of striated/voluntary/skeletal muscle (rhabdomy/o: skeletal muscle, -oma: tumor, mass)

Chondrosarcoma

Malignant tumor of the cartilage. Occurs most frequently in adults (chrondr/o: cartilage, -sarcoma: connective tissue cancer

Leiomyosarcoma

Malignant tumor of smooth muscle. Most commonly appearing in the uterus (leiomy/o: smooth muscle, -sarcoma: connective tissue cancer)

Osteosarcoma

Malignant tumor of bone. Also called Ewing sarcoma. Most common children’s bone cancer (oste/o: bone, -sarcoma: connective tissue cancer)

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Highly malignant tumor of skeletal muscle. Also called rhabdosarcoma or rhabdomyoblastoma (rhabdomy/o: skeletal muscle, -sarcoma: connective tissue cancer)

Amputation

Removal of a limb when there are no feasible options to save it

Arthrocentesis

Surgical puncture of a joint to remove fluid (arthr/o: joint, -centesis: surgical puncture)

Arthrodesis

Binding or stabilization of a joint by operative means (arthr/o: joint, -desis: binding)

Arthroplasty

General term meaning surgical repair of a joint (arthr/o: joint, -plasty: surgical repair)

Bunionectomy

Removal of a bunion (bunion/o: bunion, -ectomy: excision, resection)

Kyphoplasty

Minimally invasive procedure designed to address the pain of a fractured vertebrae resulting from osteoporosis or cancer. A balloon is used to inflate the area of fracture before a cementlike substance is injected. The substance hardens rapidly, and pain relief is immediate in most patients. (kyph/o: round back, -plasty: surgical repair)

Laminectomy

Removal of the bony arches of one or more vertebrae to relieve compression of the spinal cord (lamin/o: lamina, -ectomy: excision, resection)

Meniscectomy

Removal of a meniscus such as in the knee

Myorrhaphy

Suture of a muscle (my/o: muscle, -rrhaphy: suture)

Operative ankylosis

Procedure used in the treatment of spinal fractures of after diskectomy or laminectomy for the correction of a herniated vertebral disk; also used to describe surgical fixation of a joint. Also called arthrodesis. (ankyl/o: stiffening, -osis: abnormal condition)

Osteoclasis

Refracture of a bone; usually done if a bone has a malunion (oste/o: bone, -clasis: intentional breaking)

Osteoplasty

Surgical repair of a bone (oste/o: bone, -plasty: surgical repair)

Prosthesis

An artificial body part that is constructed to replace missing limbs, eyes, and other body parts (prosth/o: addition, -is: thing)

Spondylosyndesis

Fixation of an unstable segment of the spine by skeletal traction, immobilization of the patient in a body cast, or stabilization with a bone graft or synthetic device. Also called spinal fusion and spondylodesis. (spondyl/o: vertebra, syn-: together, -desis: binding)

Syndesmoplasty

Surgical repair of a ligament (syndesm/o: ligament, -plasty: surgical repair)

Tenomyoplasty

Surgical repair of a muscle and a tendon (ten/o: tendon, my/o: muscle, -plasty: surgical repair)

Total hip replacement (THR)

Replacement of the femoral head and the acetabulum of the hip with either plastic or metal appliances

Total knee replacement (TKR)

Extensive surgical procedure that involves the replacement of the entire knee joint, either unilaterally or bilaterally

Traction

The process of pulling a body part into correct alignment, as to correct a dislocation (tract/o: pulling, -ion: process of)