Dr. Scott F. Gillman - Family & Sports Chiropractic

Glossary of Chiropractic &
Medical Terms

CHIROPRACTIC CARE: This term refers to the behaviors, methods, and other procedures that chiropractic practitioners employ in the case management of patients.

CHOREA - A disorder, usually of childhood, characterized by irregular, spasmodic, involuntary movements of the limbs or facial muscles.

CHOROID PLEXUS - A vascular structure in the (hollow) ventricles of the brain which produce cerebrospinal fluid.

CHRONIC: Describes a condition which arose more than three months prior to the patient seeking treatment.

CLINICAL GUIDELINES: See Guidelines.

CLINICAL IMPRESSION: A working hypothesis formulated from significant items in the history and the physical findings; a tentative or working diagnosis.

COCCYX - The small bone at the end of the spinal column in humans, formed by the fusion of four rudimentary vertebrae. Also known as the "tail bone".

COHORT STUDY: A prospective investigation of the factors that might cause a disorder in which a cohort of subjects who do not have evidence of an outcome of interest, but who are exposed to the cause are compared with a concurrent cohort of subjects who are also free of the outcome but are not exposed to the cause. Both cohorts are then followed to compare the incidence of the outcome variable.

COHORT: A group of persons with a common characteristic or set of characteristics.
Collaborative Care: The coordinated management and delivery of a patient's health care by two or more professionals at the same time.

COLLAGEN - A fibrous protein which is a major constituent of connective tissue, such as skin, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bones.

COMMINUTED FRACTURE - A fracture in which a bone is broken into more than two pieces. Often, internal or external fixation devices are used to maintain proper alignment of the fragments.

COMPLICATED CASE: A case where the patient, because of one or more identifiable factors, exhibits regression or delayed recovery in comparison with expectations from the natural history.

COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) SCAN - A diagnostic imaging technique in which a computer reads x-rays to create a three-dimensional map of soft tissue or bone.

CONCOMITANT CARE: The management of a patient's health care by two or more health professionals, with minimal or no interaction. Treatment may be directed at the same or different conditions by the different practitioners.

CONCUSSION - A disruption, usually temporary, of neurological functions resulting from the impacting of the brain within the skull. A direct blow or violent shaking can cause it. Concussion is graded, based on different guidelines, often into grades 1, 2, or 3, and often depending on whether there was loss of consciousness or not, or to what extent the concussion caused amnesia. Grade-1 concussions often have no loss of consciousness and exhibit no notable memory loss, e.g. "getting your bell rung" in football.

CONSENT: Consent, which may be expressed or implied, is given when a patient agrees to submit to diagnostic and/or treatment procedures. Consent is limited to procedures provided by the health care practitioner that are reasonably anticipated to assist in the recovery of the patient. A valid consent requires legal mental capacity to consent. See Informed Consent.

CONTEMPORANEOUS: Existing or happening at the same period of time, referring to events.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: Part-time educational programs conducted on a continuing basis for practising practitioners for the purposes of maintaining and improving their knowledge base and introducing them to new knowledge and clinical skills.

CONTRAST MEDIUM - Any material (usually opaque to x-rays) employed to delineate or define a structure during a radiological procedure.

CONTUSION - A bruise. An area in which blood that has leaked out of blood vessels is mixed with tissue.

CORONAL SUTURE - The line of junction of the frontal bones and the parietal bones of the skull.

CORTEX - The external layer. The gray matter covering the hemispheres of the cerebrum and cerebellum. The dense bone that forms the outer surface of bone.

CORTICAL - Pertaining to the cortex.

CRANIUM - The part of the skull that holds the brain.

CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY: A study in which all measurements are made on a single occasion, there is no follow-up period.

CSF - See cerebrospinal fluid.

CSF SHUNT - A bypass or diversion of accumulations of cerebrospinal fluid to an absorbing or excreting system.