Orthopaedics · Musculoskeletal System · Medium

Arthropathy

Meaning: Any disease or disorder affecting a joint, whether inflammatory, degenerative, infective or metabolic.

In practice: Psoriatic arthropathy can cause swelling of whole fingers and nail changes.

Word parts

Many medical words are built from Greek and Latin parts like these, so learning a few helps you work out new terms.

Two questions on related orthopaedics words.

Which word means: A procedure that anchors a tendon to bone, often to relieve pain from a damaged tendon.

Which word means: A surgical procedure in which a tendon is cut to lengthen it or release a contracture.

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