It seems that all professions have created their own acronyms to shorten the length of common phrases they use in their everyday job. Orthopedists also use their own form of “jargon”. If you have ever seen an orthopedist you may have heard these terms before.

PASTA: Partial Articular Supraspinatus Tendon Avulsion
This term describes a type of traumatic injury to the shoulder. In summary it is a partial tear on the inner side of one of the rotator cuff tendons.

PLIF: Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion
This term describes a type of surgery performed on the spine. It involves adding bone graft to an area of the spine to encourage bone growth between the two vertebra.

DISI: Dorsal Intercalated Segment Instability
This is a ligament injury to the wrist that results in pain, loss of grip strength, and could lead to degenerative joint disease.

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