Many sports injuries can be corrected without major surgery. Arthroscopy is a specialized procedure that offers many patients relief from pain, recovery at home, and a return to work or sports in a matter of weeks.
Instead of a long incision, the surgeon makes two or three tiny incisions on either side of the joint. The surgeon inserts a tiny camera with a built-in light into one of the portals. Now the surgeon can watch live images on a video monitor, looking inside the joint to find the source of the problem.
The surgeon uses the second portal to insert instruments. He or she can repair torn tissue, remove fragments of bone or cartilage, reposition a snapping muscle, and even treat bursitis and early arthritis. These conditions were considered untreatable as recently as a decade ago.
Arthroscopy can repair knee, shoulder, elbow, ankle, and hip joints, and rotator cuff injuries, and it can be used for ACL and PCL reconstruction.
