Arthroscopy Joint Surgery
When you are having joint pain, and imaging tests such as X-rays or CT scans haven’t provided enough diagnostic information, your doctor may recommend arthroscopy. Arthroscopy is a procedure that enables your orthopedic surgeon to look inside your joint without making a large incision in order to make a diagnosis and, when appropriate, to repair any damage.
At Aspire Orthopedic Institute, our surgical team has extensive experience performing arthroscopy—and a consistent track record of successful patient outcomes.
What does arthroscopy involve?
With arthroscopy, your surgeon uses a tiny fiber-optic camera to look inside your affected joint to make a diagnosis and repair joint damage. Some of the joints that can be examined and treated using arthroscopy are:
- Knee
- Elbow
- Shoulder
- Wrist
- Hip
- Ankle
During the procedure, a small incision—about the size of a buttonhole—is made in the skin and a narrow tube attached to a fiber-optic camera is inserted. This enables your surgeon to examine the joint surfaces and soft tissue; these images from inside your joint are transmitted to a high-definition video monitor.
If treatment is needed, your surgeon may be able to repair some types of joint damage during arthroscopy using pencil-thin surgical instruments that are inserted through additional small incisions.
Arthroscopy is performed as an outpatient procedure, so you won’t need to stay in the hospital overnight.
The conditions treated with arthroscopy
Some of the most common conditions the surgeons at Aspire Orthopedic Institute treat with arthroscopy include:
- Damaged or torn cartilage, such as a torn meniscus of the knee
- Shoulder bursitis (inflammation of the soft tissue around the shoulder)
- Rotator cuff injury
- Loose bone fragments
- Inflamed linings of the joints
- Joint infections
- Torn ligaments
- Scarring within joints
The benefits of arthroscopy
Arthroscopy offers several advantages compared with traditional open surgery:
- Less pain
- Lower cost
- Little scarring
- Less time in the hospital
- Faster recovery times
Who is a candidate for arthroscopic surgery?
Patients of any age can have arthroscopic surgery. Whether arthroscopy is right for you depends on the type of condition you have, and what you and your doctor want to achieve by having the surgery. Your surgeon will discuss all treatment options with you.
What is the recovery time from arthroscopic surgery like?
Every body is different. How quickly you recover from this procedure depends on your age, how physically active you are before surgery, and how closely you follow your prescribed physical therapy regimen before and after surgery.
Patients who maintain healthy habits after surgery typically experience less pain and improved mobility—enabling them to get back to the activities they enjoyed before pain became a problem.
Want to learn more about arthroscopy at Adventist health Orthopedic Institute?
Simply call us at (503) 261-6961 to schedule an appointment.