Elbow Dislocation Glossary of Terms

Least Effective Exercises Slideshow

Abnormal: Not normal. Deviating from the usual structure, position, condition, or behavior. In referring to a growth, abnormal may mean that it is cancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer).

Arteriogram: An x-ray of blood vessels, which becomes visible after an injection of contrast solution into the circulation that appears on the x-ray film.

Artery: A vessel that carries blood high in oxygen content away from the heart to the farthest reaches of the body. Since blood in arteries is usually full of oxygen, the hemoglobin in the red blood cells is oxygenated. The resultant form of hemoglobin (oxyhemoglobin) is what makes arterial blood look bright red.
See the entire definition of Artery

Elbow: The juncture of the long bones in the middle portion of the arm. The bone of the upper arm (humerus) meets both the ulna (the inner bone of the forearm) and radius (the outer bone of the forearm) to form a hinge joint at the elbow. The radius and ulna also meet one another in the elbow to permit a small amount of rotation of the forearm. The elbow therefore functions to move the arm like a hinge (forward and backward) and in rotation (outward and inward). The biceps muscle is the major muscle that flexes the elbow hinge, and the triceps muscle is the major muscle that extends it. The primary stability of the elbow is provided by the ulnar collateral ligament, located on the medial (inner) side of the elbow. The outer bony prominence of the elbow is the lateral epicondyle, a part of the humerus bone. Tendons attached to this area can be injured, causing inflammation or tendonitis (lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow). The inner portion of the elbow is a bony prominence called the medial epicondyle of the humerus. Additional tendons from muscles attach here and can be injured, likewise causing inflammation or tendonitis (medial epicondylitis, or golfer's elbow). See also: Elbow bursitis; Elbow pain; Nursemaid's elbow.

Elbow dislocation: See: Nursemaid's elbow.

Elbow joint: Three long bones meet in the middle portion of the arm at the elbow joint. The bone of the upper arm (humerus) meets both the ulna (the inner bone of the forearm) and radius (the outer bone of the forearm) to form a hinge joint. And the radius and ulna also meet one another in the elbow to permit a small amount of rotation of the forearm. The elbow therefore functions to move the arm like a hinge (forward and backward) and in rotation (turn outwards and inwards).
See the entire definition of Elbow joint

Emergency department: The department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medical and surgical care to patients arriving at the hospital in need of immediate care. Emergency department personnel may also respond to certain situations within the hospital such cardiac arrests.
See the entire definition of Emergency department

Forearm: The portion of the upper limb from the elbow to the wrist.
See the entire definition of Forearm

Humerus: The long bone in the arm which extends from the shoulder to the elbow.

Injury: Harm or hurt. The term "injury" may be applied in medicine to damage inflicted upon oneself as in a hamstring injury or by an external agent on as in a cold injury. The injury may be accidental or deliberate, as with a needlestick injury. The term "injury" may be synonymous (depending on the context) with a wound or with trauma.

Joint: A joint is the area where two bones are attached for the purpose of motion of body parts. A joint is usually formed of fibrous connective tissue and cartilage. An articulation or an arthrosis is the same as a joint.
See the entire definition of Joint

Median: The middle. Like the median strip in a highway.

Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses chemical and electrical signals to transmit sensory and motor information from one body part to another. See: Nervous system.

Orthopedist: An orthopaedic surgeon, orthopaedics being the branch of surgery broadly concerned with the skeletal system (bones). Orthopedics is how this field of surgery is listed under Physicians & Surgeons in the telephone Yellow Pages in Jacksonville, Florida. This spelling is quite common today. But it is incorrect, erroneous, flat out wrong. Orthopedics would relate the term to the foot because in Latin pedis means foot. Orthopaedics is not merely old-fashioned. It is the correct spelling. What was meant by the term orthopaedics when it was devised goes back to its roots: ortho-, straight + the Greek paes, child = the practice, literally, of straightening the child. If the child had a crooked spine (scoliosis), it was the job of the orthopaedist to straighten the child, not just the child's foot. That is why there is no American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery but there is an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery. And that is also why orthopaedists look after broken bones.

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain has both physical and emotional components. The physical part of pain results from nerve stimulation. Pain may be contained to a discrete area, as in an injury, or it can be more diffuse, as in disorders like fibromyalgia. Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain where their conscious appreciation may be modified by many factors.
See the entire definition of Pain

Pharmacy: A location where prescription drugs are sold. A pharmacy is, by law, constantly supervised by a licensed pharmacist.

Pulse: The rhythmic contraction and expansion of an artery due to the surge of blood from the beat of the heart. The pulse is most often measured by feeling the arteries of the wrist. There is also a pulse, although far weaker, in veins.

Radial: A word with diverse meanings in medicine and the biomedical sciences:

1. Pertaining to the radius, the smaller bone in the forearm. The radial artery is so named because of its proximity to the radius.
2. Pertaining to the radius of a circle.
3. Spreading from a central point. A radial keratotomy is an eye operation in which incisions are made in the cornea that resemble the spokes in a wheel.

Radius: In anatomy, the radius is the smaller of the two bones on the thumb side of the forearm. (The bigger one is the ulna).
See the entire definition of Radius

Surgery: The word "surgery" has multiple meanings. It is the branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions which require or are amenable to operative procedures. Surgery is the work done by a surgeon. By analogy, the work of an editor wielding his pen as a scalpel is s form of surgery. A surgery in England (and some other countries) is a physician's or dentist's office.
See the entire definition of Surgery

Ulna: The larger of the two long bones within the forearm. (The smaller one is the radius). The ulna is on the same side of the arm as the little finger.

Ulnar: Referring to the larger of the two long bones in the forearm. (The smaller one is the radius). The ulna is on the same side of the arm as the little finger.

Ulnar nerve: A major nerve in the upper extremity. The ulnar nerve begins in the lower cervical and upper thoracic portions of the spinal cord (from C7 to T1), travels via the brachial plexus down into the arm, through the cubital tunnel at the elbow, and supplies both sensory and motor innervation to parts of the forearm, and hand. Known in anatomy also as the nervus ulnaris. See also: Cubital tunnel syndrome.

Wrist: The proximal segment (the near part) of the hand consisting of the carpal bones and the associated soft parts.
See the entire definition of Wrist

X-ray: 1. High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light. X-rays possess the properties of penetrating most substances (to varying extents), of acting on a photographic film or plate (permitting radiography), and of causing a fluorescent screen to give off light (permitting fluoroscopy). In low doses X-rays are used for making images that help to diagnose disease, and in high doses to treat cancer. Formerly called a Roentgen ray. 2. An image obtained by means of X-rays.