Essential knee terminology
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- Tanner staging search for term
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Tanner staging is a scale of alterations in sexual characteristics that help to identify comparative sexual maturity in adolescents.
- Tegner score search for term
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The Tegner score or activity scale is a scoring system to gauge how disabled one is from one's knee problem in terms of activity.
Page updated January 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Tendinitis search for term
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Tendinitis is a description that infers inflammation of a tendon, although often the condition is more a degeneration than an inflammation.
- Tendon search for term
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A tendon is the white fibrous end of a muscle, which connects the muscle to the bone.
- Tendonitis search for term
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Tendonitis is an inflammation of a tendon within its tendon sheath. It is the same as 'tendinitis', but the latter spelling is preferred amongst medics.
- Tenodesis search for term
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A tenodesis is a surgical procedure where the origin of a tendon is changed in order to improve joint stability.
- Theraband search for term
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Theraband is a trade name for wide elastic bands used for rehabilitation exercises, and development of strength.
- Thermal shrinkage search for term
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Thermal shrinkage is a controversial technique where a radiofrequency 'wand' is stroked over the fibres of a ligament or capsule to cause shrinkage, and consequent tightening of any laxity.
- Thessaly test search for term
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The Thessaly test assesses the integrity of the knee meniscus.
- Thighbone search for term
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The thighbone is the femur - the long bone going from the hip to the knee.
- Thrombophlebitis search for term
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Thrombophlebitis is an inflammation of the skin and underlying tissues related to a clot in a superficial vein.
- Tibia search for term
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The tibia is the shin bone.
- Tibial inlay search for term
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The tibial inlay technique is a procedure for fixation of a PCL graft onto the tibia.
- Tibial plateau search for term
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The tibial plateau is the flattened upper surface of the tibial bone (shinbone), where it makes contact with the rounded ends (condyles) of the femur (thighbone).
- Tibial plateau fracture search for term
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A tibial plateau fracture is a bone break through the flat top end of the shin bone (tibia).
Page updated January 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Tibial spine search for term
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The tibial spine is a raised area of bone in the middle of the tibial plateau, and related to the attachment of the cruciate ligaments.
- Tibial torsion search for term
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Tibial torsion is a condition where the tibia bone is abnormally twisted, often leading to problems with kneecap pain.
Page updated November 2023 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Tibial tubercle avulsion search for term
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Tibial tubercle avulsion is when the attachment of the patellar tendon to the tibia is torn off, together with a fragment of bone.
- Tibial tuberosity search for term
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The tibial tuberosity or tibial tubercle is the bony lump on the shin below the kneecap (patella) where the patellar tendon attaches.
Page updated March 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Tibial tuberosity transfer search for term
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Tibial tuberosity transfer (TTT) includes a group of surgical procedures involving cutting the bony bump below the kneecap (the tibial tuberosity) and either moving it or re-angling it with a view to changing the forces through the patella.
Page updated January 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Tibial tunnel search for term
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The tibial tunnel refers to the drill hole on the tibia through which a replacement anterior cruciate ligament is threaded during an ACL reconstruction.
- Tibiofemoral joint search for term
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The tibiofemoral joint is the junction of the tibia bone (shinbone) with the femur bone (thighbone).
Page updated November 2023 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Tibiofibular ligaments search for term
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The tibiofibular ligaments stabilise the joint at the top of the fibula where the fibula forms a synovial joint with the tibia.
- Tide mark search for term
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The tide mark is a zone at the base of a layer of cartilage where it meets the bone.
- Tightrope search for term
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The TightRope is a device for fixing an ACL graft which offers the advantage of complete filling of short femoral tunnels.
- Tip toes search for term
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Tip toes is a simple knee rehabilitation exercise for the early phase of rehab to strengthen the calf muscles.
- Tissue bank search for term
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A tissue bank is a place where body parts are stored for later use in transplantation.
- Tissue engineering search for term
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Tissue engineering uses combinations of cells, biodegradeable scaffolds and other biological substances to repair or replace body parts.
- Tissue graft search for term
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A tissue graft is a transplant of body tissue from one area to another in the same person, or from a donor to a recipient.
- TKA search for term
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TKA is an abbreviation of 'total knee arthroplasty' - the replacement of the natural knee joint with manufactured components.
Page updated February 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - TKR search for term
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TKR is an abbreviation of 'total knee replacement'.
Page updated February 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Torn meniscus search for term
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A torn meniscus is a split through the fibres and matrix of the shock absorber of the knee.
Page updated January 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Total knee arthroplasty search for term
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A total knee arthroplasty is the same as a 'total knee replacement'.
Page updated February 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Total knee replacement search for term
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A total knee replacement (TKR) is a replacement of the femoral and tibial surfaces of the knee joint, and generally also part of the patella, with metal and plastic.
Page updated February 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Total knee replacement failure and revision search for term
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If a knee replacement fails it may have to be removed and replaced. This is the main reason why surgeons counsel patients to wait before undergoing knee replacement if they are still young.
Page updated February 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Total knee replacement operating room considerations. search for term
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A number of operating room issues are of importance when making choices about knee replacement.
- Total meniscectomy search for term
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A total meniscectomy is the surgical removal of the whole of a meniscus - the shock absorber of the knee.
- Tourniquet search for term
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A tourniquet in knee surgery is an inflatable wrapping which goes around the upper thigh to stop blood flow during an operation.
Page updated March 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Traction apophysitis search for term
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A traction apophysitis is a condition where excessive pull on a tendon attachment creates an area of inflammation on the bony bump (apophysis) where the tendon attaches.
Page updated January 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Transfix search for term
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Transfix is a system of fixation of hamstrings tendon graft for cruciate reconstruction.
- Transplant search for term
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A transplant is the removal of a body part from is origin and re-growing it somewhere else in the same person or in another person.
- Treadmill search for term
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A treadmill is a useful item of equipment for knee rehabilitation.
- Triamcinolone search for term
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Triamcinolone is a steroid used to treat inflammatory disorders.
- Triple varus search for term
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Triple varus is a bow leg deformity where varus bowing of the knees increases on standing and also the knees tend to go backward.
- Trochlea search for term
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The trochlea is the groove of the femur at the knee joint, where the patella runs.
Page updated February 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Trochlear dysplasia search for term
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Trochlear dysplasia is a condition of the knee where the trochlear groove is abnormal, usually at its upper end where it is abnormally flat or even heaped into a 'bump'.
Page updated November 2023 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Trochlear groove search for term
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The trochlear groove is the concave surface where the patella (kneecap) makes contact with the femur (thighbone). Also called the 'trochlea'.
Page updated March 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Trochlear implant search for term
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A trochlear implant is a metal resurfacing of the groove of the trochlea to replace damaged joint cartilage there.
Page updated August 2023 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Trochleoplasty search for term
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A trochleoplasty is a surgical procedure to re-shape the walls of the trochlear groove to improve patellar stability.
Page updated October 2023 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - Trunk extension search for term
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Trunk extension is a rehabilitation exercise to strengthen the lower back.
- TT-PCL distance search for term
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The TT-PCL distance is an MRI measurement of the distance from the tibial tubercle to the posterior cruciate ligament, and calculated in the evaluation of kneecap instability.
- TT-TG Distance search for term
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TT-TG distance is a measurement, derived from CT or MRI scans, which gives an indication of the sideways alignment of the groove in which the kneecap slides compared to the attachment point of its tendon on the tibia.
Page updated March 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor) - TTT search for term
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TTT is an abbreviation of 'tibial tuberosity transfer' which is a surgical procedure to improve kneecap stability.
- Tuberculosis search for term
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Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection caused by the tuberculosis bacterium and it may affect the knee and cause a destructive arthritis.
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