Joint stiffness

A condition characterized by difficulty in moving a joint. It is usually accompanied by pain and discomfort. Stiffness often follows a joint injury when muscles go into a spasm that reduces movement in order to protect against further damage. It should be treated cautiously and no attempt should be made to move the joint forcibly. Persistent, painful stiffness requires medical investigation and treatment.

1. A measure of the resistance of a joint to movement. It is defined as the change in joint angle divided by a change in joint torque or moment. Joint stiffness depends on the resistances offered by joint structures (including muscles and ligaments), skin, and subcutaneous connective tissue.

2. A condition, characterized by difficulty in moving a joint, which is usually accompanied by discomfort and pain. Joint stiffness often follows a joint injury when muscles go into a protective spasm, which reduces movement. Joint stiffness should be treated cautiously and no attempt should be made to move the joint forcibly. Persistent, painful stiffness requires medical investigation and treatment.

Joint stiffness
Classification and external resources
ICD-10	M25.6
ICD-9	719.5

Joint stiffness may be either the symptom of pain on moving a joint, the symptom of loss of range of motion or the physical sign of reduced range of motion. Doctors prefer the latter two uses but patients often use the first meaning.

• Pain on movement is commonly caused by Osteoarthritis, often in quite minor degrees, and other forms of arthritis. It may also be caused by injury or overuse and rarely by more complex causes of pain such as infection or neoplasm. The range of motion may be normal or limited by pain. "Morning Stiffness", pain which eases up after the joint has been used, is characteristic of Rheumatoid arthritis.^[1]
• Loss of motion (symptom): the patient notices that the joint (or many joints) do not move as far as they used to or need to. Loss of motion is a feature of more advanced stages of arthritis including Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis and Ankylosing spondylitis.
• Loss of range of motion (sign): the examining medical professional notes that the range of motion of the joint is less than normal. Routine examination by an orthopaedic surgeon or rheumatologist will often pay particular attention to this. The range of motion may be measured and compared to the other side and to normal ranges. This sign is associated with the same causes as the symptom. In extreme cases when the joint does not move at all it is said to be ankylosed.

References

1. ^ Yazici, Y; Pincus; Kautiainen; Sokka (2004). "Morning stiffness in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis is associated more strongly with functional disability than with joint swelling and erythrocyte sedimentation rate". The Journal of rheumatology 31 (9): 1723–6. PMID 15338490.  edit

v • d • e Musculoskeletal disorders: Arthropathies (M00-M19, 711-719) Arthritis (monoarthritis/ polyarthritis) Inflammation (Neutrophilia) Infectious Septic arthritis · Tuberculosis arthritis · Reactive arthritis (indirectly) Noninfectious Seronegative spondyloarthropathy: Reactive arthritis · Psoriatic arthritis · Ankylosing spondylitis Rheumatoid arthritis: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis · Adult-onset Still's disease · Felty's syndrome Crystal arthropathy: Gout · Chondrocalcinosis Noninflammatory Osteoarthritis: Heberden's node · Bouchard's nodes Other hemorrhage (Hemarthrosis) · pain (Arthralgia) · Osteophyte · Hypermobility · villonodular synovitis (Pigmented villonodular synovitis) · Joint stiffness joint navs: anat, non-congenital arthropathies/deformities/dorsopathies/soft tissue arthropathy/congenital, eponymous signs, proc

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