Orthopedic Surgery Essay

Understanding Orthopedic Surgery

Orthopedic is a very complex area of surgery and it requires experienced and dedicated surgeons who know what to do in their specific area. Orthopedic surgery is basically concerned with injuries and conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system. So whether you have problems with joints, bones, ligaments, tendons, nerves or muscles, this is where you need to start off.

So in case you have a deformity of the spine or limbs, you suffered a bone fracture or you have a long-term condition developed over the time, such as for example osteoarthritis, you should head to an orthopedic surgeon to treat your condition.

What do orthopedic specialists treat?

Orthopedic specialists are responsible for the orthopedic

area. They treat people of all ages, depending on their conditions. Here you can see some of the conditions they treat, depending on the possible age of occurrence:
- Newborns and children with deformities. At this age, they can develop problems such as congenital dislocation of the hip, scoliosis or club foot. All of these conditions require the attention of an orthopedic specialist.
- Young people needing joint preserving surgery. These conditions might include the need of arthroscopic surgery or osteotomy.
- Older people with irremediable degenerative joint problems. At an older age, people usually need their joints replaced. In such conditions, orthopedic surgeons are needed.

Emergency and non-emergency
Consultants in the orthopedic area provide both emergency and non-emergency care for those who suffer from musculoskeletal injuries. Some of the most common things that orthopedic consultants do include:
- Diagnosing injuries or disorders, using blood tests, X-rays or other related tests
- Treating injuries or conditions with proper medication or with surgery, when it is required or recommended
- Recommending exercises or physiotherapy that would help restoring movement, functionality and strength

Orthopedic surgeries
As it was mentioned, orthopedics is an area that covers a complex part.

So depending on the specific area and parts of your body that are injured or suffered from certain conditions, there might be a certain surgery needed. Here are some of the most common orthopedic surgeries that exist:

- Repairing fractured bones. This area might include broken arm or wrist, broken ankle, broken leg, broken hip, broken collarbone and broken ribs.

- Arthroscopy. This refers to a minimally invasive technique that involves tools inserted into a joint in order to diagnose and repair damaged joint tissue. For example, one of the conditions in which this can be used is cartilage damage.

- Repairing damaged muscles, torn ligaments or torn tendons.

- Arthroplasty. This is a surgery that is used to resurface or replace joints. Such surgery is usually needed for patients with arthritis. Two of the surgeries in this category include knee replacing and hip replacing surgery, which are also proven to be highly effective surgeries.

- Surgery to correct bony deformity. This is a procedure mainly used to correct deformities of limbs or spine that would limit function or cause long-term problems if they were left untreated.

Conclusion

Orthopedic surgery covers a wide area of expertise. Depending on age and condition, a certain surgery might be

required.