Arthroscopy

What is Arthroscopic Surgery? What is Closed Surgery?
Arthroscopy is a procedure in which small incisions of about one centimeter are made in the skin and the inside of the joints are viewed with a rod-shaped camera. Previously used only for diagnostic purposes, it is now used for both diagnosis and treatment.

En sık diz eklemi olmak üzere, omuz, ayak bileği, el bileği, dirsek ve kalça eklemini ilgilendiren hastalıkların tedavisinde uygulanmaktadır.

Camera imaging is performed under anesthesia and operating room conditions.

Simple diagnostic procedures can be performed under local anesthesia, but regional (spinal) or general anesthesia is used for therapeutic interventional procedures.

In order to obtain the image, the inside of the joint is inflated with fluid, which is drained at the end of the procedure.

The structures visible on the camera are magnified 8 to 20 times, allowing for a detailed diagnosis. Since areas that are not easily accessible during open surgery are also visualized, a detailed diagnosis can be made. The treatment of problems detected in the joint can be done with instruments inserted through other holes or holes to be opened.

For arthroscopic surgery, at least two small holes are used, the number of holes can be increased to reach different areas. The duration of the operation varies depending on the procedure to be performed, but ranges from approximately 20 minutes to 2 hours.

In the treatment of some diseases, it can be applied in combination with arthroscopic surgery and open surgery.

The duration of hospitalization after arthroscopic procedures depends on the procedure performed. While some procedures can be discharged on the same day, in some cases hospitalization for several days may be necessary.

Which diseases are treated with arthroscopic surgery?
Treatments performed with arthroscopy in the knee joint:

Stitching of meniscal tears or cleaning of the tear,
anterior cruciate ligament tear repair, (you can review my article on anterior cruciate ligament repair)
correction of articular cartilage problems,
intra-articular biopsies,
removal of intra-articular cysts and benign tumors,
In rheumatic diseases, removal of the synovium, the tissue lining the joint,
treatment of fractures involving the joint,
treatment of recurrent knee cap dislocations,
opening of joint movement limitations that develop after trauma or surgery,
cartilage and bone tissue transplants

Arthroscopic treatment of the ankle joint :

Separation or loss of cartilage,
tissue compression after a sprain,
Removal of bony protrusions in the ankle seen in contact sports such as soccer,
intra-articular biopsies and removal of the synovial membrane,
ankle arthrodesis (dondoring of the deformed joint to make it immobile and painless),
some intra-articular fractures

Arthroscopic treatments in the shoulder joint:

Treatment of recurrent dislocations of the shoulder joint,
muscle tightness around the shoulder,
repair of fiber breaks around the shoulder,
Opening of joint movement limitations in frozen shoulder disease,
removal of intra-articular free bodies,
treatment of intra-articular cartilage and tendon (tendon) problems,
cleansing of synovial tissues

What are the advantages of arthroscopic surgery?

During open surgery, healthy tissues must be cut to reach the joint. In contrast, since arthroscopy is performed through very small holes that do not damage the intact tissues, postoperative pain is less.

The risk of infection and limitation of movement in the joint is much lower.

The duration of hospitalization and return to activities of daily living and sports activities is much shorter.

Depending on the procedure performed, physical therapy and rehabilitation program can be started earlier than patients undergoing open surgery.

What are the complications of arthroscopic surgery?
Complications such as swelling (accumulation of blood), infection, deep vein thrombosis (formation of a blood clot in the veins), wound healing problems, vascular and nerve injuries, fracture of the instruments used in the joint, switching to open surgery for technical reasons may occur. However, the risk of these complications is very low and varies between one in a thousand and four percent.