All About Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery

Orthopedics is a branch of medicine that is concerned with the prevention or correction of the various injuries and disorders associated with the skeletal system, muscles, joints, and ligaments. A physician that practices orthopedics is known as an orthopedist. Orthopedists treat fractures, strained muscles, as well as torn ligaments and tendons. Congenital skeletal deformities and degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis are also treated by orthopedists.

Orthopedists originally treated their patients with braces and splints. With medical advances, orthopedists began to apply bone grafting techniques, hip and joint replacements, and the use of prostheses, special footwear, and braces to improve mobility. Another method of correcting disorders of the musculoskeletal system is through orthopedic surgery. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and non-surgical means to treat musculoskeletal trauma, sports injuries, degenerative diseases, tumors, infections, and congenital disorders.

In the United States, orthopedic surgeons must complete four years of undergraduate education and four years of medical school. Subsequently, medical school graduates must undergo residency training in orthopedic surgery, which typically lasts five years. After the completion of their residency training, many orthopedic surgeons opt for further training or fellowships in subspecialties such as hand surgery, shoulder and elbow surgery, total joint reconstruction, spine surgery, and pediatric orthopedics.

After the completion of these additional training programs, many Houston orthopedic surgeons become eligible for certification by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery. Certification means that the orthopedic surgeon has passed the specified educational requirements of the board. Moreover, the process of certification requires the completion of a standardized written exam followed by an oral exam.

Orthopedic surgery has a history that stretches back at least two hundred years. Jean-Andre Venel established the first orthopedic institute in 1780. This hospital was concerned with the treatment of children with skeletal deformities. Further developments in orthopedic surgery and Houston pain management such as traction (mechanisms that straighten broken bones) and splinting (a device used to straighten the spine) were conducted during the First World War.

The use of intramedullary rods to treat fractures was developed by a German physician named Gerhard Küntscher. By the end of the Second World War, the use of intramedullary fixations by Houston orthopedic surgeons became widespread in hospitals around the world.

Was this helpful? 0 0 Comments

You're reading All About Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery.