Orthopaedics
Orthopaedics is a field of medicine involved in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries of the motor organ. This includes problems with the skeletal system (without the skull bones), muscles, joints, ligaments and nerves. We would like to invite you to ENEL-SPORT facilities in Warsaw and Łódź for an orthopaedic consultation with experienced specialists!
Orthopaedics is a broad field of medicine. It deals both with locomotor system injuries as well as with any kinds of degenerative diseases, problems of the muscular system, metabolic conditions, and even cancers. Orthopaedics is closely linked to traumatology, i.e. traumatic surgery: it is the orthopaedist-traumatologist who would provide assistance to patients after various types of injuries, including bone fractures, ankle sprains, etc.
Orthopaedics
When should we seek medical assistance?
An orthopaedist is involved in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, congenital and acquired defects, as well as a broad range of injuries to the musculoskeletal system.
It is worth attending an orthopaedic consultation in the case of:
- bone fracture or muscle strain;
- noticeable curvature or deepening postural defects;
- joint pain or dislocation;
- limited range of movement
- impossibility to load any of the limbs;
- loss of sensation in the limb;
- persistent numbness and tingling sensation.
What diseases may be diagnosed by the doctor?
Orthopaedics deals with locomotor disorders. The most common diagnoses include:
- bone fractures and breakages;
- articular (joint) sprains and dislocations;
- muscle strains, ruptures and bruising;
- ligament strains or ruptures;
- tendon strains or ruptures;
- osteoarthritis (back, knee, elbow, shoulder);
- spinal discopathies;
- spinal channel stenosis;
- faulty posture (scoliosis, lordosis, kyphosis);
- platypodia (flat feet);
- hallux valgus;
- carpal tunnel syndrome;
- golfer’s elbow;
- tennis elbow;
- jumper’s knee;
- runner’s knee;
- calcaneal spur;
- congenital defects.
What does the visit look like?
Patients do not have to make any special preparation for an orthopaedic consultation. In the beginning, the doctor takes the patient’s medical history by asking about the general health, medication use, past diseases, and the current symptoms and their intensity, etc. The doctor may also perform simple palpation or visual inspection – or sometimes ask the patient, for instance, to move a leg. However, making a diagnosis in orthopaedics usually requires detailed image diagnostics.
Contemporary orthopaedics is, to a large extent, based on diagnostic tests and examinations which help to precisely visualise concrete elements of the motor organ and hence detect any potential disorders and irregularities. The most common imaging tests related to orthopaedics performed at ENEL-SPORT include:
- ultrasonography;
- X-ray imaging;
- magnetic resonance imaging (MRI);
- computed tomography (CT).
Orthopaedics – treatment methods
The orthopaedic treatment at ENEL-SPORT is always tailored to the individual needs and health of the patient. It may involve non-invasive procedures and the use of pharmacological substances, mainly analgesic and anti-inflammatory agents, e.g. in the form of pills, ointments or intraarticular injections. Under conservative treatment, the therapies used aat our centres include:
- immobilisation by means of dressings or jackets;
- physiotherapy and procedures such as massage, hydrotherapy, electrotherapy, cryotherapy, kinesiotherapy, etc.
If the above methods fail to bring the expected results, it is necessary to resort to surgical intervention, which is followed by rehabilitation.
