What exactly is knee arthroscopy used for?

An orthopedic doctor may recommend an arthroscopy when he or she suspects a specific condition. This usually happens when you present yourself at the doctor's clinic with chronic or acute knee pain. The doctor may have already diagnosed the condition and may have an arthroscopy to conduct repair, or this procedure may solely be conducted with the vision to repair the targeted areas in the knee. Knee arthroscopy is performed to confirm the source of pain and, at the same time, address it. Arthroscopic surgery is used for the diagnosis and treatment of a number of conditions and for specific actions. Some of these include the following:

Fractures in the knee bones
Swelling in the lining of the joint
Baker's cyst removal
Tear in the cartilage between the knee bones (meniscus tear)
Tear in the anterior or posterior cruciate ligaments
Displaced patella
Cartilage Tear
Treatment of knee infection (sepsis)
Trimming of damaged knee cartilage
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction
Removal of loose fragments of cartilage and bones

For What Type of Conditions is Arthroscopy Considered?

Arthroscopy is useful for all types of knee diseases and disorders. It aids in the diagnosis and treatment of a number of infectious, inflammatory, and non-inflammatory arthritis. Additionally, it also helps in the treatment and diagnosis of knee injuries, as highlighted in the section above. Non-inflammatory degenerative arthritis, commonly known as osteoarthritis, is also diagnosed using arthroscopy. In knee osteoarthritis, the affected cartilage appears frayed and irregular. The same procedure is also used when rheumatoid arthritis is suspected.

Surgical knee arthroscopy is also used to remove a sample of tissue lining the joint. This sample is biopsied and examined under a microscope to identify whether the inflammation is due to an infection, such as tuberculosis. More importantly, arthroscopy is useful in cases where the condition cannot be diagnosed simply by aspiration. It is helpful when an analysis of the joint fluid yields no fruitful results.

Arthroscopy V/S Arthroscopic Knee Surgery

Both techniques use an arthroscope, which is a small tube containing lenses and optical fibres. During both procedures, the doctor inserts an arthroscope through tiny incisions on either side of the knee joint. If specific procedures are performed during arthroscopic examination of the knee, it is known as arthroscopic knee surgery. The technique is known as simple arthroscopy when the doctor performs the procedure solely to diagnose the condition.

The arthroscope has a video camera that records and displays the interior of the knee joint on a television monitor. The arthroscope that the doctor uses to examine the knee joint is around 5 mm in diameter. Arthroscopes come in different sizes, depending on which joint in the body is supposed to be examined.