An arthroscopy is a type of keyhole surgery; it is commonly used to identify and treat injuries to joints.
An arthroscopy involves making a much smaller incision than a normal surgical procedure; once the incision has been made, the arthroscope is inserted. The arthroscope is a small, thin tube, which is highly flexible and contains fibre optic strands which provides light and doubles up as a camera; this enables the surgeon to see what they are doing. The images captured by the camera are usually relayed to a television screen.
The most common injuries treated by arthroscopies are knee injuries; however, this technique can also be used to identify and treat injuries in the hip, shoulder, wrist, ankle and elbow.
The main reasons for using an arthroscopy are to diagnose an injury or condition and to treat an injury; this usually involves repairing damaged soft tissue around a joint.
Arthroscopy procedures have many benefits; the most obvious one is the lack of scarring due to the smaller incision. The procedure is much less invasive than a traditional surgical procedure which means the risk of infection is lower and healing time is generally much quicker. Patients will also be able to move much more freely after an arthroscopy than a normal procedure.