Arthroscopy Surgeon in Surat

Arthroscopy is a way of looking inside a joint and treating it through very small cuts. A thin telescope with a camera, called an arthroscope, is passed into the joint and the picture appears on a screen. Small instruments go in through separate cuts to repair, trim or reconstruct the damaged tissue. Because the cuts are small, it is often called keyhole or minimally invasive surgery.

Arthroscopy is used mainly in the knee and the shoulder. Since MRI became widely available, it is only occasionally used purely to look inside a joint; most arthroscopies treat a problem that is already known. Arthroscopy is done by orthopaedic surgeons who have trained in these techniques.

Many knee and shoulder problems settle with rest, medicines, activity changes and physiotherapy. Surgery is usually considered when symptoms continue despite an adequate trial of this, when a knee locks or keeps giving way, or when the injury is of a kind that is unlikely to heal on its own. The decision is made after a clinical examination and, where needed, an MRI.

Arthroscopy does not help every painful joint. If your knee hurts only because of wear (osteoarthritis), washing it out through the camera has not been shown to help, so it is not advised. For arthritic knees, other options are discussed on the knee specialist page, and knee replacement is considered only when arthritis is advanced.

• Bring your MRI, X-ray films and earlier reports to the consultation.
• Tell the doctor about all medicines, especially blood thinners, diabetes and blood pressure tablets, and any allergies.
• Pre-operative blood tests and an ECG are done where needed. Follow the fasting instructions given by the anaesthetist.
• Stopping smoking before surgery helps healing.
• Plan for someone to accompany you, and arrange help at home for the first few days. A physiotherapist can show you exercises before surgery.

Arthroscopy is generally a smaller operation than open surgery, but no operation is without risk. General risks include infection, bleeding or swelling in the joint, stiffness, blood clots in the leg veins, injury to a nerve or blood vessel (uncommon), and risks of anaesthesia. Symptoms may not settle completely, and a repaired tendon or graft can fail to heal or tear again. The risks that apply to you are explained at consultation before you consent to surgery.

Book a consultation if you have:

• a knee that locks, catches or gives way, or swells after a twisting injury
• shoulder pain with weakness, night pain, or repeated dislocation
• joint pain that has not improved after a few weeks of rest and physiotherapy

Seek urgent medical care for a hot, red, swollen joint with fever, for a joint that cannot bear weight after an injury, or for an obvious deformity after a fall.