Glossary of Key Terms

A drug used to relieve pain and fever

Originally a Chinese practice of inserting fine needles through the skin at specific points especially to cure disease or relieve pain

Agents for producing pain relief

Pain in one or more joints

Inflammation of a joint or joints resulting in pain, swelling and stiffness

The operative formation or restoration of a joint

An instrument for visualizing the interior of a hollow organ that is inserted through an incision near a joint (as the knee) and is used for the visual examination, diagnosis, and treatment of the interior of a joint

Examination of a joint with a scope

Of or relating to a joint

Cartilage that covers the articular surfaces of bones

Freedom from infection, sterile

The withdrawal of fluid from the body

Derived from birds

A substance or mixture of substances that in a solution tends to stabilize and neutralize, within limits, both acids and bases

A usually translucent somewhat elastic tissue that composes most of the skeleton

Inflammation of synovial fluid lasting for a long period of time or marked by frequent recurrence

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Occurring or existing concurrently but unrelated pathological or disease process

Occurring on, affecting, or acting in conjunction with a part on the opposite side of the body

To make a treatment or procedure inadvisable

A steroid hormone produced by the adrenal cortex (the outer portion of the adrenal glands); administered as drugs they reduce swelling and decrease the body's immune response

Any of a class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to relieve the pain and inflammation of arthritis and thought to minimize gastrointestinal side effects

Disease that leads to the gradual deterioration of a joint; also called Osteoarthritis.

Capacity for producing a desired result or effect

And ideal viscosupplementation solution enhances elastic (high impact- such as running) and viscous (low impact- such as walking) properties in a knee with osteoarthritis

Any of a group of endogenous peptides that bind chiefly to opiate receptors (in the cell membrane) and produce some of the same pharmacological effects (pain relief) as those of opiates (dulls the senses and induces relaxation)

Relating to or affecting both stomach and intestine

Any of a group of steroid hormones, such as cortisone, that are produced by the adrenal cortex (the outer portion of the adrenal glands) and have anti-inflammatory properties

The maintenance of relatively stable internal physiological conditions such as body temperature or the pH of blood

A substance found naturally in joint fluid that acts as a shock absorber and lubricant in the knee joint and is necessary for the joint to function properly.

A substance injected into a knee with osteoarthritis. Serves to restore lubrication and shock absorbing capabilities that have been depleted due to the disease of osteoarthritis.

Relating to or producing an immune response

An injection administered by entering a joint

The act of removing a fluid from a joint in the body by a hollow needle connected with a suction syringe

A transparent, lubricating fluid secreted by a membrane of an articulation (place of union between two or more joints) or bursa (a saclike body cavity between a tendon and bone)

Examination of a knee through an endoscope (an instrument for visualizing the interior of a hollow organ)

A special imaging technique used to image internal structures of the body particularly the soft tissues

The sum of the atomic weights of all the atoms in a molecule

A non-drug therapy, such as exercise, with therapeutic value

A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug such as ibuprofen

Ultra-pure natural hyaluronan that is injected intraarticular into the knee and is indicated in the treatment of pain in osteoarthritis of the knee in patients who have failed to respond adequately to conservative nonpharmacologic therapy and to simple analgesics

Arthritis typically with onset during middle or old age that is characterized by degenerative (gradual deterioration of joint) and sometimes abnormal growth in the bone and cartilage of one or more joints and a progressive wearing down of opposing joint surfaces with consequent distortion of joint position and is marked symptomatically especially by pain, swelling, and stiffness; abbreviation (OA)

A bony outgrowth

An approximately 0.9 percent solution of sodium chloride; also called normal saline solution

A therapy that uses physical agents such as exercise, massage and other modalities

An inert substance used especially in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance such as a drug

Something that preserves or has the power of preserving

Severe inflammation of the joint often with significant pain normally occurring 24 to 72 hours after intraarticular injection; often requires clinical intervention

Of or relating to the phenomena of flowing matter

A sharp, bony outgrowth located at the end of a bone

Situated beneath cartilage

A lubricating fluid resembling the white of an egg, secreted by certain membranes, as those of the joints; also called joint fluid

The inner membrane of a joint capsule surrounding a freely movable joint.

Repair of a damaged joint by replacing with a synthetic joint implant, made of either plastic, ceramic, titanium or stainless steel, in an effort to return normal function to affected joint

Having the quality of being thick and slow-flowing

The property of resistance to flow in a fluid

A procedure that replaces diseased synovial fluid in people with osteoarthritis of the knee in an effort to decrease pain, enhance range of motion and increase joint mobility