Orthopedics is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention and correction of injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system and associated muscles, joints, and ligaments. At first, the French physician Nicholas Andry coined the term “orthopedia” in his book prevention and correction of muscular and skeletal deformities in children on 1741. Bones support and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals and enable mobility.
Rheumatoid arthritis also can cause more generalized bone loss that may lead to osteoporosis. Rheumatology is a sub-specialty in internal medicine and pediatrics, devoted to diagnosis and therapy of rheumatic diseases. Rheumatologists mainly deals with the clinical problems involving joints, autoimmune diseases, soft tissues, vasculitis, and heritable connective tissue disorders. A bone is an organ that constitutes the part of the vertebral skeleton. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis often need a long term, coordinated and a multidisciplinary team approach towards management of individual patients, treatment is often tailored according to the individual needs of the individual patient which is also dependent on the response and the tolerability of medications.
Early orthopedists concentrated on the correction of birth defects such as scoliosis and clubfoot. Gradually orthopedists included fractures, dislocations, and trauma to the spine and skeleton within their specialty. Current orthopedic specialists continue to apply physical methods to align fractures and restore a disrupted joint. Braces and casts are still used to hold injured bones in place while they heal.
Now, however, the physician can take X rays to be certain that the bones are aligned properly for healing to take place. X rays also can be taken during the healing process to make sure that the alignment has not changed and that healing is occurring swiftly. Recent technological advances such as joint replacement and the arthroscope have benefitted orthopedic patients. Modern orthopedic surgery and musculoskeletal research has sought to make surgery less invasive and to make implanted components better and more durable.