Arthroscopic Treatment

Arthroscopic surgery is medically a surgical treatment of joint in the body. It is a simple surgical procedure in which an arthroscope that is a sort of endoscope is inserted through a small incision into the joint. A surgeon to examine and treat the damage on the inner surface of a joint performs an arthoscopic surgery. It is also performed to treat or evaluate a number of orthopedic conditions such as trimming damaged cartilage, ACL reconstruction, torn surface cartilage and torn floating cartilage.

Patients undergo this surgery to treat the damaged joints of the shoulder, knee, elbow, ankle, hip and wrist. Torn joint tissue such as menisci and ligament are repaired with this surgical procedure.

The benefit of an arthroscopy surgery is that it is not necessary to fully open the joint that is to be treated. Only two small openings are made by the surgeon – one for surgical instruments and another for arthroscope. This shortens the period of recovery and ensures the success of the surgery with almost no complications. Smaller incisions leave smaller scar on the surface of the skin. Professional athletes who frequently have their knee joints injured benefit from the arhroscopic surgery.

The infirmities that are treated in the Arthroscopic procedures:

Knee Arthroscopy

In most of cases, knee arthroscopy has replaced the arthrotomy that was prevalent in the past. Knee arthroscopy is basically performed to treat damaged meniscus cartilage, reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament and cure cartilage microfracturing. Many persons take to arthroscopy in order to check or diagnose the knee.

During a knee arthroscopy an incision is made. Then, through the incision the endoscope that is a fiberoptic camera is pushed into the joint. The surgeon uses a special transparent fluid to visualize the joint parts. Several miniature instruments are taken into use to perform the surgery. Patients recover after a knee arthroscopy faster than after arthrotomy. The period of recovery depends on the physical condition of the patient after the surgery.

Spinal Arthroscopy

Spinal arthroscopy is executed to remove the damaged muscle, ligament or bone and also to treat damage to them. In this case, a surgeon accesses the damaged area via the rib cage and this procedure depends on the thoracic conditions of the damaged part of a joint. It lengthens the period of recovery for patients. Arthroscopic or endoscopic spinal procedures cause least damage to the tissues surrounding the joint under treatment and treat various spinal conditions.

Recovery

A patient recovers from knee arthroscopy faster than other schemes of treatment such as arthrotomy. In most cases, the patient can return home just a day after the surgery and start walking with the help of crutches. The time for recovery depends on the patient’s physical condition and the reason for surgery. Normally, the joint function recovers within a few weeks and for full recovery, it takes around a month.