Up until relatively recently, receiving corrective surgery to treat injured or diseased joints required complicated, invasive surgeries.
Surgical results were much more inconsistent than they are today, and there were many instances where revisionary surgeries were necessary to fix the results or replace artificial joint components. Recovery times for invasive joint surgeries were long, scarring was often extensive and physical therapy and rehabilitation could be grueling.
Arthroscopy surgery was a truly game-changing development in the field of orthopaedic surgery. Procedures that used to require invasive surgeries – sometimes just for the purpose of visualizing and diagnosing a joint injury or condition – can now be performed with a pencil-sized instrument.
This instrument, known as an arthroscope, contains a miniaturized video camera and lighting system. During surgery the arthroscope is inserted through a small incision and gives the surgeon the ability to clearly see the joint and any injuries or conditions affecting it.