Rheumatology

Rheumatologists are doctors who investigate, diagnose, manage and rehabilitate patients with disorders of the musculoskeletal system such as the locomotor apparatus, bone and soft connective tissues.

These conditions include inflammatory and non-inflammatory disorders which predominantly affect the joints, bones, muscles and soft tissues. Although the prevalence of some conditions such as arthritis rises with age, musculoskeletal conditions may affect all age groups and specialists see a large variety of patients.

Rheumatologists treat conditions such as:

 

Inflammatory arthritis

• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Osteoarthritis

Connective tissue disease

• Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE)
• Scleroderma
• Dermatomyositis & Polymyositis
• Sjogren’s syndrome

 

Vasculitis

• Vasculitis
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Giant cell arteritis
• Wegeners granulomatosis
• Churg-strauss

 

Metabolic bone disorders

• Osteoporosis
• Paget’s disease
• Gout and pseudogout

 

Musculoskeletal disorders

• Tennis elbow and golfers elbow
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Fibromyalgia

 

Common procedures/interventions

 

These include:

 

• Physical examination
• X-ray and other imaging methods
• Laboratory tests
• Drug treatments
• Soft tissue and joint injections
• Spinal injections for relief of back pain
• Biopsy procedures such synovial or muscle biopsies
• Musculoskeletal ultrasound