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A joint is the location at which two or more bone
Bone

Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
s make contact. They are constructed to allow movement and provide mechanical support, and are classified structurally and functionally.

ts are mainly classified structurally and functionally.






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A joint is the location at which two or more bone
Bone

Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
s make contact. They are constructed to allow movement and provide mechanical support, and are classified structurally and functionally.

Classification

Gray298
Illu Synovial Joint
Joints are mainly classified structurally and functionally. Structural classification is determined by how the bones connect to each other, while functional classification is determined by the degree of movement between the articulating bones. In practice, there is significant overlap between the two types of classifications.

Terms ending in the suffix
Suffix

In grammar, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the grammatical conjugation of verbs....
 -sis are singular and refer to just one joint, while -ses is the suffix for pluralization.

Structural classification

Structural classification names and divides joints according to how the bones are connected to each other. There are three structural classifications of joints:

  • fibrous joint
    Fibrous joint

    Fibrous joints are connected by Fibrous connective tissue, consisting mainly of collagen....
     - joined by fibrous connective tissue
    Fibrous connective tissue

    In zootomy, fibrous connective tissue is a type of connective tissue which has relatively high tensile strength, due to a relatively high concentration of collagen or elastin fibers....
  • cartilaginous joint
    Cartilaginous joint

    Cartilaginous joints are connected entirely by cartilage . Cartilaginous joints allow more movement between bones than a fibrous joint but less than the highly mobile synovial joint....
     - joined by cartilage
    Cartilage

    Cartilage is a type of dense connective tissue. It is composed of specialized cells called chondrocyte that produce a large amount of extracellular matrix composed of collagen fibers, abundant ground substance rich in proteoglycan, and elastin fibers....
  • synovial joint
    Synovial joint

    Synovial joints are the most common and most movable type of joints in the human body. As with most other joints, synovial joints achieve movement at the point of contact of the articulating bones....
     - not directly joined


Functional classification

Joints can also be classified functionally, by the degree of mobility they allow:

  • synarthrosis
    Synarthrosis

    A synarthrosis is a type of joint which permits very little or no movement under normal conditions. Most synarthrosis joints are fibrous joint....
     - permits little or no mobility. Most synarthrosis joints are fibrous joint
    Fibrous joint

    Fibrous joints are connected by Fibrous connective tissue, consisting mainly of collagen....
    s (eg The Skull).
  • amphiarthrosis
    Amphiarthrosis

    Amphiarthrosis is a type of continuous, slightly movable joint....
     - permits slight mobility. Most amphiarthrosis joints are cartilaginous joint
    Cartilaginous joint

    Cartilaginous joints are connected entirely by cartilage . Cartilaginous joints allow more movement between bones than a fibrous joint but less than the highly mobile synovial joint....
    s (eg. Vertebrae).
  • diarthrosis - permits a variety of movements. All diarthrosis joints are synovial joint
    Synovial joint

    Synovial joints are the most common and most movable type of joints in the human body. As with most other joints, synovial joints achieve movement at the point of contact of the articulating bones....
    s (eg. Shoulder, Hip, Elbow, Knee etc), and the terms "diarthrosis" and "synovial joint" are considered equivalent by Terminologia Anatomica
    Terminologia Anatomica

    Terminologia Anatomica is the international standard on human anatomical terminology. It was developed by the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology and the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists and was released in 1998....
    .


Biomechanical classification

Joints can also be classified based on their anatomy or on their biomechanical properties. According to the anatomic classification, joints are subdivided into simple and compound, depending on the number of bones involved, and into complex and combination joints:
  1. Simple Joint: 2 articulation surfaces (eg. shoulder joint, hip joint)
  2. Compound Joint: 3 or more articulation surfaces (eg. radiocarpal joint)
  3. Complex Joint: 2 or more articulation surfaces and an articular disc or meniscus
    Meniscus (anatomy)

    In anatomy, a meniscus is a crescent-shaped fibrocartilage structure present in the knee, acromioclavicular joint, sternoclavicular joint, and temporomandibular joints that, in contrast to articular disks, only partly divides a joint cavity....
     (eg. knee joint)


Anatomical

The joints may be classified anatomically into the following groups:
  1. Articulations of hand
  2. Elbow joints
    Elbow

    The elbow is the region surrounding the elbow-joint—the ginglymus or hinge joint in the middle of the arm. Three bones form the elbow joint: the humerus of the upper arm, and the paired radius and ulna of the forearm....
  3. Wrist joints
    Wrist

    In human anatomy, the wrist is the flexible and narrower connection between the forearm and the hand. The wrist is essentially a double row of small short bones, called carpals, intertwined to form a malleable hinge....
  4. Axillary articulations
    Axillary articulations

    Axillary articulations refers to these joints in the shoulder:*humeroscapular joint*acromioclavicular joint...
  5. Sternoclavicular joints
  6. Vertebral articulations
  7. Temporomandibular joint
    Temporomandibular joint

    The temporomandibular joint is the joint of the jaw and is frequently referred to as TMJ. There are two TMJs, one on either side, working in unison....
    s
  8. Sacroiliac joint
    Sacroiliac joint

    The sacroiliac joint or SI joint is the joint between the sacrum, at the base of the vertebral column and the ilium of the pelvis, which are joined by ligaments....
    s
  9. Hip joints
  10. Knee joints
  11. Articulations of foot


Arthritis

Arthritis and direct physical trauma
Physical trauma

Physical trauma refers to a body injury. A trauma patient is someone who has suffered serious and life-threatening physical injury with the potential for secondary complications such as Shock , respiratory failure and death....
 to a joint are the causes of joint damage. Arthritis is a group of conditions where there is damage caused to the joint
Joint

A joint is the location at which two or more bones make contact. They are constructed to allow movement and provide mechanical support, and are classified structurally and functionally....
s of the body. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in people over the age of 55.

There are many different forms of arthritis, each of which has a different cause. The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis , is a group of diseases and mechanical abnormalities entailing degradation of joints, including articular cartilage and the subchondral bone next to it....
 (also known as degenerative joint disease) occurs following trauma to the joint, following an infection of the joint or simply as a result of aging. Furthermore, there is emerging evidence that abnormal anatomy may contribute to early development of osteoarthritis. Other forms of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic disease inflammation that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks the joints producing a inflammatory synovitis that often progresses to destruction of the articular cartilage and ankylosis of the joints....
 and psoriatic arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis is a type of inflammatory arthritis that, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation, affects around 10-30% of people suffering from the chronic skin condition psoriasis....
, which are autoimmune diseases in which the body is attacking itself. Septic arthritis
Septic arthritis

Septic arthritis is the purulent invasion of a joint by an infectious agent which produces arthritis....
 is caused by joint infection
Infection

An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host resources to multiply ....
. Gouty arthritis
Gout

Gout is a crystal deposition disease hallmarked by elevated levels of uric acid in the Circulatory system. In this condition, crystals of monosodium urate or uric acid are deposited on the articular cartilage of joints, tendons and surrounding tissues....
 is caused by deposition of uric acid
Uric acid

Uric acid is an organic compound of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen with the formula C5H4N4O3....
 crystals in the joint that results in subsequent inflammation. Additionally, there is a less common form of gout that is caused by the formation of rhomboidal shaped crystals of calcium pyrophosphate. This form of gout is known as pseudogout.

See also

  • Arthrology
    Arthrology

    Arthrology is the science concerned with the anatomy, function, dysfunction and treatment of joints....
  • Kinesiology
    Kinesiology

    Kinesiology, also known as Human Kinetics, is the science of human movement. It focuses on how the body functions and moves. A kinesiological approach applies scientific based medical principles towards the analysis, preservation and enhancement of human movement in all settings and populations....
  • Ligament
    Ligament

    Ligaments connect bone to bone. In anatomy, the term ligament is used to denote three different types of structures:# Fibrous Tissue that connects bones to other bones....
  • Replacement joint
    Replacement joint

    Joint replacement is one of the most common and successful operations in modern orthopaedic surgery. It consists of replacing painful, arthritis, worn or cancerous parts of the joint with artificial surfaces shaped in such a way as to allow joint movement....


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