Muscular System
Learning Objectives
- Identify the anatomy of the muscular system and describe the main functions of the muscular system
- Analyze, translate, and define medical terms and common abbreviations of the muscular system
- Practice the spelling and pronunciation of muscular system terminology
- Identify the medical specialties associated with the muscular system and explore common diseases, disorders, diagnostic tests and procedures
Key Word Components
Identify meanings of key word components of the muscular system:
Prefixes
- a- (absence of, without)
- ab- (away from)
- ad- (towards)
- dys- (painful, difficult, abnormal, labored)
- hyper- (above, excessive)
- inter- (between)
- intra- (within, in)
- poly- (many, much)
- sub- (below, under)
- supra- (above)
- sym- (together, joined)
- syn- (together, joined)
Combining Forms
- ankyl/o (stiff or bent)
- fasci/o fascia (forms sheaths enveloping muscles)
- fibr/o (fibrous connective tissue)
- kinesi/o (movement, motion)
- kyph/o (hump)
- lamin/o lamina (thin, flat plate or layer)
- leimy/o (smooth [viseral] muscle that lines the walls of internal organs)
- my/o (muscle)
- myocardi/o (heart muscle)
- myos/o (muscle)
- plant/o (sole of the foot)
- rhabdomy/o (skeletal [striated] muscle connected to bones)
- sarc/o (flesh, connective tissue)
- ten/o (tendon)
- tendin/o (tendon)
- tend/o (tendon)
Suffixes
- -al (pertaining to)
- -algia (pain)
- -ar (pertaining to)
- -asthenia (weakness)
- -centesis (surgical puncture to aspirate fluid)
- -desis (surgical fixation, fusion)
- -ectomy (excision, surgical removal, cutting out)
- -gram (the record, radiographic image)
- -graphy (process of recording, radiographic imaging)
- -ic (pertaining to)
- -itis (inflammation)
- -lysis (loosening, separating, dissolution)
- -oid (resembling)
- -oma (tumor)
- -osis (abnormal condition)
- -penia (abnormal reduction)
- -physis (growth)
- -plasty (surgical repair)
- -rrhaphy (suturing, repairing)
- -sarcoma (malignant tumor)
- -schisis (split, fissure)
- -scopy (process of viewing, visual examination)
- -tome (instrument used to cut)
- -tomy (incision, cut into)
- -trophy (nourishment, development)
Muscular System Words
Muscular System Medical Terms (Text Version)
Practice the following muscular system words by breaking into word parts and pronouncing.
- rhabdomyolysis (rhabd/o/my/o/lysis)
- dissolution of a striated muscle
- bradykinesia (brady/kines/ia)
- condition of slow movement
- myorrhaphy (my/o/rrhaphy)
- suturing of a muscle
- dystrophy (dys/trophy)
- abnormal development
- tendinitis (tendin/itis)
- inflammation of the tendon
- electromyogram (electr/o/my/o/gram)
- record of the electricity of the muscle
- hyperkinesia (hyper/kines/ia)
- condition of excessive movement
- myasthenia (my/asthenia)
- weakness of muscles, muscle weakness
- hypertrophy (hyper/trophy)
- excessive development
- dyskinesia (dys/kines/ia)
- condition of difficult movement
- tenomyoplasty (ten/o/my/o/plasty)
- surgical repair of tendon and muscle
- myeloma (myel/oma)
- tumour in the spinal cord
- myalgia (my/algia)
- painful muscles
- polymyositis (poly/myos/itis)
- inflammation of many muscles
- tenorrhaphy (ten/o/rrhaphy)
- suturing of a tendon
- fibromyalgia (fibr/o/my/algia)
- pain in the fibers of muscles
Activity source: Muscular System Medical Terms by Kimberlee Carter, from Building a Medical Terminology Foundation by Kimberlee Carter and Marie Rutherford, licensed under CC BY- 4.0. /Text version added.
Pronouncing and Defining Commonly Abbreviated Muscular System Terms
Practice pronouncing and defining these commonly abbreviated muscular system terms:
- ACL (anterior cruciate ligament)
- AROM (active range of motion)
- BKA (below knee amputation)
- BMD (bone mineral density)
- Ca (Calcium)
- CK (creatine kinase)
- CTS (carpal tunnel syndrome)
- DC (Doctor of Chiropractic)
- DEXA or DXA (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry)
- DO (Doctor of Osteopathy)
- EMG (Electromyogram)
- ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate)
- IM (intramuscular)
- MD (Muscular Dystrophy)
- MG (myasthenia gravis)
- NSAID (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, pronounced en-said)
- OA (osteoarthritis)
- Ortho (orthopedics)
- OT (occupational therapist)
- P (pulse)
- PT (physical therapist)
- RA (rheumatoid arthritis)
- ROM (range of motion)
- THR (total hip replacement)
- TKR (total knee replacement)
- TMJ (temporomandibular joint)
Sorting Terms
Sort the terms from the word lists above into the following categories:
- Disease and Disorder (terms describing any deviation from normal structure and function)
- Diagnostic (terms related to process of identifying a disease, condition, or injury from its signs and symptoms)
- Therapeutic (terms related to treatment or curing of diseases)
- Anatomic (terms related to body structure)
Medical Terms in Context
Place the following medical terms in context to complete the scenario below:
Musculoskeletal System – Referral Letter (Text version)
Use the words below to fill in the referral letter:
- CTS
- tingling
- numbness
- osteoarthritis
- clumsiness
- metacarpal
- atrophy
- arthrodesis
- flexion
- tenorrhaphy
- median
- ligament
PATIENT NAME: Mrs. Anna JONES
AGE: 65
SEX: Female
DOB: June 29
REASON FOR REFERRAL: Evaluation and consideration for surgery for treating carpal tunnel syndrome.
Dear Dr. Porter
I am referring Mrs. Jones for evaluation and consideration for surgery for treating _______[Blank 1]. Mrs. Jones is 65 years old. She has moved to this area 2 years ago and I have been her primary care physician since then. Recently she has been complaining of _________[Blank 2], tingling, burning, and pain in her right hand, primarily in the thumb, index, and middle fingers. Occasionally the pain and _________[Blank 3] travel up the forearm toward her shoulder. The patient reports that the pain and unusual sensations have started gradually and worsened over the past couple of years.
The patient has worked as a data entry clerk at a pharmaceutical company for 35 years. Her work involved sitting at her desk and typing on a computer for an average of 7 hours on each workday. She is retired now. The patient reports that during the past few months she has also felt weakness and _________[Blank 4] in her hand, and this has made her everyday life difficult. She can tell that her grip is not as strong as before since she frequently drops things. Now she is finding the simple tasks such as buttoning her clothes, cutting vegetables, and brushing her teeth challenging. The x-ray of the right hand and wrist shows clear signs of ________[Blank 5] and osteoporosis of carpal and _______[Blank 6] bones. On visual examination there is no muscle . The wrist has limited _________[Blank 7] and extension range of motion.
It is important to note that the patient had been in a car accident in her teenage years and had suffered from a compact fracture of her left wrist bones. Multiple surgeries, including arthroplasty and __________[Blank 8], were done to restore the functionality of the left wrist and hand. Eventually, her orthopedic surgeon performed a subtotal ___________[Blank 9] of the wrist to provide a stable and pain-free joint with a limited useful range of motion.
Based on the aforementioned observations and findings I have determined that Mrs. Jones is a fit candidate for CTS surgery. A proper cut in the transverse carpal __________[Blank 10] would release the pressure off the ________[Blank 11] nerve and relieve the symptoms.
Thank you for seeing Mrs. Jones. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly with any questions or comments you may have concerning her care. Also, please keep me updated on her progress and kindly refer her back to my care once her condition resolves.
__________________________________
Trevor Sharpe, MD, Family Medicine
Check your answers: [1]
Activity source: Musculoskeletal System – Referral Letter by Saeedeh Akram and Heather Scudder, from Building a Medical Terminology Foundation by Kimberlee Carter and Marie Rutherford, licensed under CC BY- 4.0. /Text version added.
Test Your Knowledge
Test your knowledge by answering the questions below:
Muscular System Glossary Reinforcement Activity (Text version)
- Muscle that is associated with the walls of internal organs and is responsible for involuntary muscle movement is called _____[Blank 1].
- Skeletal muscle
- Smooth muscle
- Cardiac muscle
- Paralysis that effects one side of the body is called______ [Blank 2].
- paraplegia
- paresis
- hemiplegia
- An injury to a joint whereby a ligament is stretched or torn is called _____[Blank 3].
- a sprain
- a strain
- fibromyalgia
- Myasthenia Gravis is _______[Blank 4].
- pain in the fibrous tissues of muscles.
- grave or serious muscle weakness.
- partial paralysis wherein there is still some control of the muscles.
- Skeletal muscle is responsible for ______[Blank 5].
- voluntary muscle movement.
- pumping blood.
- involuntary muscle movement.
Check your answers: [2]
Activity source: Muscular System Glossary Reinforcement Activity by Kimberlee Carter, from Building a Medical Terminology Foundation by Kimberlee Carter and Marie Rutherford, licensed under CC BY- 4.0. /Text version added.
Downloadable Worksheets
View or download & print the PDF or Word format worksheet below:
Worksheet – Skeletal/Muscular Systems – Chapter 13-14 [Word]
14. Muscular System – Definitions Using Word Parts [Word]
14. Muscular – Scenario [Word]
Attribution
Except where otherwise noted, this book is adapted from Medical Terminology by Grimm et al. (2022), Nicolet College, CC BY 4.0 International. / A derivative of Building a Medical Terminology Foundation by Carter & Rutherford (2020), and Anatomy and Physiology by Betts, et al., CC BY 4.0, which can be accessed for free at OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology.