GLOSSARY OF TERMS
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Acetabulum – the curve-shaped cavity on the side of the hip bone into which the thigh bone fits.
Acute care – treatment of a severe medical condition that is of short duration and at a crisis level.
ADL – activities of daily living.
Ambulate – to walk.
Anaesthesiology – the study and use of anaesthetics.
Anaesthetic – a medication to reduce pain; can be administered as a local anaesthetic confined to use around the source of pain, or as a general anaesthetic, producing a loss of sensation through the entire body and loss of consciousness.
Antibiotic – a substance that attacks and kills bacteria in the body or renders it inactive.
Antibiotic resistance organism – bacteria that become resistant to the antibiotics normally used to treat them.
ARO – Antibiotic resistance organism.
Arthroplasty – repair or replacement of an entire joint or part of a joint in the body, such as a knee or hip.
Arthritis – a condition that causes inflammation, stiffness and pain in the joints.
Aspirin – a non-prescription drug commonly used to alleviate pain and inflammation, lower fever and reduce the risk of blood clotting in arteries.
Autoimmune disease – an attack initiated by the body's immune system against its own tissues.
Ball-and-socket joint – the area where the rounded end of one bone fits into a cavity in an adjoining bone. Ball-and-socket joints allow a wide range of movement, or flexion. For example, ball-and-socket joints of the shoulder and hip can rotate in a complete circle.
Bladder – the body organ in which urine is stored.
Blood clot – a clump or thickened mass of blood in an artery that may partially or completely block the flow of blood.
Bone scan – a nuclear scanning test performed to identify new areas of bone growth or breakdown.
Bowlegged (valgus) – a condition that produces an outward curve at or below the knee area. It is caused by a disorder that slows the growth of the inner portion of the growth plate that runs horizontally across the knee while the outer portion of the plate grows normally.
Calgary Health Region – a fully integrated and publicly funded public health care system providing all services, such as hospital care, emergency and acute care, continuing care, specialized services, community health and mental health, as well as rehabilitation and prevention programs, under a single coordinated structure. It encompasses the City of Calgary, four metropolitan hospitals and a large rural area surrounding the city, including the resort communities of Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise.
Capital Health Region – a fully integrated and publicly funded public health care system providing all services, such as hospital care, emergency and acute care, continuing care, specialized services, community health and mental health, as well as rehabilitation and prevention programs, under a single coordinated structure. It encompasses the cities of Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc, Spruce Grove and St. Albert, and the counties of Leduc, Parkland, Strathcona and Sturgeon, as well as the Town of Devon and communities in the eastern part of Yellowhead County.
Care protocol - a natural history study that involves providing standard and usual care to patients in order to study the history of a disease or disorder following treatment or a treatment regimen.
Care provider – one who provides medical treatment or assistance to a patient.
Cartilage – a tough, white elastic tissue that covers the contact points of the bones that make up joints in the body, providing a cushion between the contact points and allowing smooth and painless movement of the joint.
Case manager – the individual who assembles and coordinates a team of health care service providers, including doctors, nurses and therapists, for a patient.
Catheter – a tube inserted into the body to drain fluid, inject fluid or keep a passage open.
Chronic care – treatment of a medical condition that is of long duration and occasionally over time can cause changes in the body.
CM – Case Manager.
Connective tissue – tissue that serves as the framework of the body, surrounding, supporting and connecting organs, muscles, joints and other body parts.
Control group – the group of individuals in a study who, unknowingly, are not treated or not given a procedure or medication, and whose response is compared with that of treated individuals in order to validate the results of the study.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
