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Definition: dislocation from The Columbia Encyclopedia

displacement of a body part, usually a bone. When a bone is dislocated, the ends of opposing bones are usually forced out of connection with one another. In the process, bruising of tissues and tearing of ligaments may occur. The condition may be congenital, but usually it is the result of injury. In some persons recurrent dislocation, usually of the jaw or of the knee, is brought on by only slight provocation. Manipulation, bandages, splints, and other appliances are used to reposition the dislocated part. Occasionally corrective surgery may be required.


dislocation

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Displacement of bones meeting at a joint. It causes pain, swelling, loss of function, and deformity. It is usually due to an accident, but may be caused by disease or be congential (occurring before birth). Treatment is by manipulation, which may require a local or general anaesthetic. The shoulder and elbow are common sites of dislocation. There may be associated fractures. Dislocations may be partial or complete. They are classified as ‘simple’ when the skin is unbroken, and ‘compound’ when the displaced bone pierces the skin. A complicated dislocation is a displacement of a bone, accompanied by severe local damage to the soft parts, or fracture of the bone. The process of righting a dislocation is called ‘reduction’. There is a congenital form of dislocation of the hip in which the head of the femur (thigh-bone) on one or both sides is not seated in its proper position in relation to the pelvis. This is due to faulty growth and not to injury. It occurs more frequently in girls than…
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Full text Article dislocation

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Displacement of bones meeting at a joint. It causes pain, swelling, loss of function, and deformity. It is usually due to an accident, but may be caused by disease or be congential (occurring before birth). Treatment is by manipulation, which may require a local or general anaesthetic. The shoulder…
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Full text Article Dislocation

From Black's Veterinary Dictionary
Dislocation is a displacement of a bone from its normal position in relation to a joint. Deformity is produced, and there may be intense pain if the part is interfered with. As well as displacement there is also bruising of the soft tissues around the joints, and tearing of the ligaments which bind…
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Full text Article Dislocations

From Black's Medical Dictionary, 43rd Edition
Injuries to joints of such a nature that the ends of the opposed bones are forced more or less out of connection with one another. Besides displacement of the bones, there is bruising of the tissues around them, and tearing of the ligaments which bind the bones together. Dislocations, like…
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Full text Article Shoulder Dislocation

From Harvard Medical School Health Topics A-Z
Shoulder Dislocation
What Is It? The shoulder joint is called a ball-and-socket joint. The ball is the rounded top of the bone in the upper arm (humerus), which fits into the socket — the cup-shaped outer part of the shoulder blade. When the top of the humerus moves out of its usual location in the shoulder joint, the…
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Dislocation, elbow. Degenerative...
A dislocation (luxation) consists of the complete and persistent displacement of the articular surfaces of a joint's bones with partial or complete capsular and/or ligament rupture. The term subluxation is applied to identical changes but of lesser degree. The gravity of a dislocation depends upon…
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Full text Article Dislocations and Subluxations

From Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine
Dislocations and subluxations refer to the...
In medicine, the terms dislocation and subluxation refer to the displacement of bones that form a joint. These conditions affecting the joint most often result from trauma that causes adjoining bones to no longer align with each other. A partial or incomplete dislocation is called a subluxation. In…
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Full text Article Finger Dislocation

From Harvard Medical School Health Topics A-Z
What Is It? A finger dislocation is a joint injury in which the finger bones move apart or sideways so the ends of the bones are no longer aligned normally. Finger dislocations usually happen when the finger is bent backward beyond its normal limit of motion. The bones in the fingers are known by…
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Full text Article Dislocations and Subluxations

From Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
Shoulder dislocation is one of three common ways...
Dislocation is the displacement of bones that form a joint. In a dislocation, the surfaces of the bones that normally articulate with each other (i.e., join together to allow movement) no longer line up correctly, and none of the joint surfaces touch. Subluxation is a partial dislocation, in which…
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Full text Article Dislocations and Subluxations

From The Gale Encyclopedia of Senior Health
Hand x-ray showing a dislocation of the middle...
Dislocation is the displacement of bones that form a joint. A joint is where two or more bones meet. In a dislocation, the surfaces of the bones that normally articulate with each other (i.e., join together to allow movement) no longer line up correctly, and none of the joint surfaces are touching. …
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Full text Article dislocation

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
The act or process of dislocating or the state of having been dislocated: “the severe emotional dislocation experienced by millions of immigrants … who were forced to separate themselves forever from the … circle of people and places on which they had depended” (Doris Kearns Goodwin). Displacement…
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