ARTHROSCOPIC

SURGERY
ADVANTAGES

Sparsh Goel
Roll No. 77
 INTRODUCTION

 Arthroscopic surgery has revolutionised the
diagnosis and management of joint problems.

 Initially used only as a diagnostic tool prior to open

surgery, the availability of better instruments and
techniques has encouraged the use of arthroscopy for
treating a variety of joint problems, avoiding
complicated surgeries and longer recovery.
 1. Minimally Invasive
Technique

 The operation is performed
through small punctures,
without cutting open the
joint.

 There is almost no blood

loss.
 2. Day Care Surgery.

 The surgery is performed on
day care basis, which means
that the patient is admitted
on the morning of the
operation and sent home the
same evening.

 This has several economical

advantages for patients.
 3. Little Immobilization Required.


 The only immobilisation of the
knee is in the form of a small
dressing for 48 hours. It allows
the knee to be bent.

 It is possible for the patient to be

up and about in the house
within 48 hours.

 Very little or no physiotherapy

is required.
 4. Barely Visible Scars:

 Since the whole operation is performed through
multiple small punctures, the scars are barely
visible.
 5. Possible under local
Anaesthesia:

 In selected cases, it is possible to perform the
operation under local anaesthesia. The patient can
literally walk into the operation theatre and walk out
of it.
 The technique of local anesthesia and sedation
described is effective, practical and safe for
diagnostic and therapeutic outpatient arthroscopic
knee surgery. It decreases operating time and
requires a shorter hospitalization and post-
anesthetic recovery, with no adverse events.
6. Better assessment of the joint:

 Arthroscopy is the best modality for diagnosing a
joint pathology.

 Even MRI, which is a close next to arthroscopy gives

only limited information. MRI, being a sensitive
investigation, can sometime pick up lesions which
may not be clinically significant , and also may miss
lesions which are better picked up by actually seeing
them and probing them .
Torn meniscus seen in MRI.
Normal view of knee joint. Torn meniscus seen by
arthroscopy.
 7. Dynamic assessment of the
joint possible:

 Since it is possible to move the joint while arthroscopy
is being performed, one can actually see how the
structures inside the joint appear when the joint is
moved.

 A new group of abnormalities in the joint have come to

light due to the possibility of dynamic assessment.

 For example, an abnormal tracking of the patella (patella

not moving concentrically in the trochlear notch) may be
seen very convincingly arthroscopically.
Patella shifts out of place as the leg bends or straightens.
 8. New diagnostic possibilities

 A number of new diagnostic possibilities have come to know
ledge since the availability of arthroscopy.
 A whole new group of conditions in the knee called Plicas
have been understood to be associated with patient’s
symptoms.
 Similarly, some lesions such as SLAP* lesions, which cause
shoulder pain, can be diagnosed only arthroscopically. The
term SLAP stands for Superior Labrum Anterior and
Posterior. In a SLAP injury, the top (superior) part of the
labrum is injured. This top area is also where the biceps
tendon attaches to the labrum. .
A plica is a fold of synovial
membrane most commonly in the
anteromedial aspect of the knee.
A plica is present in about 50% of the
population and are thought to be the
remnants of embryonic connective
tissue that failed to fully resorb
during your foetal development.
 9. Research possibility

 Being a minimally invasive procedure, arthroscopy
offers the possibility of studying the changes in the
intra-articular structures e.g., changes in an
implanted artificial ligament and its process of
acceptance by the body.