Shoulder Arthroscopy
Written by:Arthroscopic shoulder surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique that allows visualization of the inside of the shoulder, by inserting a lens attached to a special camera into the joint.. Thanks to this, intra-articular images can be transmitted to a monitor and thus visualize, diagnose and treat intra-articular shoulder injuries.
Injuries that can be treated with arthroscopy
At present the indications for arthroscopic surgery in general are very broad and applicable in most joints of the upper limb , shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand and of the lower limb, hip, knee, ankle and foot.
The continuous appearance of new arthroscopic instruments and new surgical techniques is allowing the vast majority of pathologies and intraarticular injuries of cartilage, meniscus, ligaments, tendons, etc.. can be fixed by arthroscopic surgery. Therefore, its main indication at present is therapeutic, being for us the "gold standard" of most intra-articular procedures.
Another indication is to diagnose diseases that, with the patient's examination and complementary tests, have not allowed us to reach a definitive diagnosis. Arthroscopy as a diagnostic method has the great advantage of allowing the articulation and its structures and their behavior to be seen in a dynamic way, a fact that no diagnostic test allows.
It also allows the biopsy in processes that require analysis or pathological anatomy, by minimally invasive approach.
Advantages of arthroscopic surgery with respect to open or conventional surgery
Arthroscopic surgery in general and shoulder surgery in particular has many advantages over open or conventional surgery. In the first place, it is a minimally invasive surgery, allowing through small incisions, to make diagnoses and treatments of the shoulder injuries, this means less aggressivity in the surgical approach with which we get less inflammatory response and GREATER POSTQUIRURGICAL CONFORTMENT FOR THE PATIENT. On the other hand, the introduction of a vision optics gives us better visual access to all parts of the shoulder joint, reducing the possibilities of omitting injuries and allowing more accurate diagnoses.
We must also highlight the lower number of postsurgical complications, greater postoperative well-being for the patient and faster recovery .
Obviously all these advantages will be possible if they are performed by expert hands and experienced in arthroscopic shoulder surgery, because one of the main disadvantages of shoulder arthroscopy is that they are surgical techniques that require a long and difficult period of learning, so that should be done by orthopedic surgeons specialized in arthroscopic surgery.
