Arthroscopy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure in Orthopedics which is used to visualize, diagnose, and treat problems inside a joint.
Figure 1 Arthroscopy of knee joint
In arthroscopic surgery, small incisions are made in the patients’ skin and thin pencil size instruments are inserted into the joint. With the help of these instruments, the joint structures are visualized as magnified pictures on a monitor screen, the whole of the joint can be inspected, and the pathology/disease are treated through the same small holes. Arthroscopic surgery needs highly sophisticated and expensive instruments and specially trained surgeons.
In Nepal, Arthroscopy surgery has been sporadically practiced by few orthopedic surgeons for the past two decades. The general population is also not aware of this highly beneficial procedure. With the recent interest of orthopedic surgeons in this field and their trainings abroad, arthroscopy in Nepal, is now routinely being done.
Arthroscopy is a minimally invasive surgery. That means we don’t need to open the whole joint as in traditional open surgery. This causes less trauma to the joints and tissues, thus recovery time is very fast. Patient can be discharged within few days or some of them can be done as “day surgery” i.e. no admission needed. Patients can return to their normal work or sports quicker. With this keyhole surgery, other complications of open surgery are also reduced. Since the incisions are small, it is also more aesthetic. The complete joint can be visualized with the help of special instruments so pathology anywhere inside the joint can be addressed with the help of this surgery, which might not be amenable with open surgery.
Literally all joints can be visualized with an arthroscope, but the most common joints which are being treated are knee, shoulder, ankle, wrist, hip and elbow.
Acute or chronic injuries of the ligaments and soft tissues of the joints (eg. Cruciate ligaments injury of the knee joint, meniscal tears of the knee joint, rotator cuff tears of the shoulder joint, recurrent dislocation of the shoulder joints, etc.), cartilage injuries of different joints, arthritis and osteoarthritis of different joints, loose body or foreign body removal from different joints, etc. can be treated by this method. Arthroscopic surgery is mostly popular among sportsmen and in sports injuries, as its results are very good and the rehabilitation time is fast, so that the sportsmen can return to their sports quickly.
Dr. Rupesh K. Vaidya,
Head of Department
Department of Orthopedics
Suvekchya International Hospital
Kathmandu Nepal
