In a word — LOTS!
Outpatient arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an instrument that is inserted into the joint through a small incision.
Here are some of the major conditions/injuries successfully treated with arthroscopy:
Repair a torn meniscus
The repair of a torn meniscus, called a meniscectomy, is one of the most commonly done surgical procedures each year in this country with estimates of over 1 million of these procedures annually. This surgery has a high success rate in resolving pain and restoring function to your knee.
Repair a hip impingement
Hip arthroscopy was initially used for the diagnosis of unexplained hip pain, but is now widely used in the treatment of conditions both in and outside the hip joint. The most common indication currently is for the treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and its associated pathologies. Other hip conditions that may be treated arthroscopically are labral tears, loose / foreign body removal, chondral (cartilage) lesions, osteochondritis dissecans, ligamentum teres injuries (and reconstruction), Iliopsoas tendinopathy (or “snapping psoas”), trochanteric pain syndrome, snapping iliotibial band and direct assessment of hip replacement.
Repair a torn rotator cuff
Arthroscopy is commonly used for treatment of conditions of the shoulder including subacromial impingement, acromioclavicular osteoarthritis, rotator cuff tears, frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis), chronic tendonitis, removal of loose bodies and partial tears of the long biceps tendon, SLAP lesions and shoulder instability.
Correct tennis elbow
Elbow arthroscopy can correct a variety of injuries, including tennis elbow. Arthroscopy can be used for cartilage removal, bone fracture removal, and elbow joint replacement.
Do you get the picture? (Did you get that pun?)
The advantage over traditional open surgery is that the joint does not have to be opened up fully. For most arthroscopic procedures, only two or three small incisions are made, one for the arthroscope and one or two for the surgical instruments to be used in the affected joint. This reduces recovery time and may increase the rate of success due to fewer traumas to the supporting connective tissue. The surgical instruments are smaller than traditional instruments. Surgeons view the joint area on a video monitor, and can diagnose and repair torn or injured joint tissue relatively quickly and precisely. It is technically possible to do an arthroscopic examination of almost every joint, but is most commonly used for the knee, hip, shoulder, elbow, wrist and ankle.
