Arthroscopy

Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure in which an examination, diagnosis and treatment of damage to a joint is performed using an Arthroscope, which is an endoscope that is inserted into the joint through a small incision. Arthroscopy is the combination of 2 words Atheros (Joint) and Skopein (to Look) which means “to look inside the joint”.

Surgeons view the joint area on a video monitor and can diagnose and repair damaged joint tissue, such as ligaments. It is technically possible to do an arthroscopic examination of almost every joint but is most commonly used for the knee, shoulder, elbow, wrist, ankle, foot, and hip. Most commonly arthroscopy is done on the Knee and Shoulder joint. Most commonly included procedures are in repairing cartilage and meniscus problems in the knee, and repairing rotator cuff tears in the shoulder.