The most common surgical procedure in Orthopedic Surgery is Knee Arthroscopy. The operation is performed at a hospital or outpatient surgical center. The patient is usually administered a general anesthetic. The procedure usually takes 30-45 minutes.
Patients are on crutches for up to several days, take oral pain medications for less than a week, return to their normal jobs in 2-4 days, and are typically completely recovered in 2-4 weeks (for simple arthroscopic procedures such as chondroplasty, menisectomy, lateral release and loose body removal).
Arthroscopy procedure outcomes vary, but can be predicted based on diagnosis and age. As a general rule, if the patient is 55 or younger with only one problem (such as a torn meniscus, a loose body, a small area of joint surface damage) tend to have a higher chance of successful surgical outcomes.
Patients older than 55 years with greater than one disease process (the most common is torn meniscus with chondral damage " commonly known as arthritis) have variable outcomes after knee arthroscopy [improved knee probability in 60% range for multiple disease process knees].
The best surgical outcomes are after Arthroscopic Medial Menisectomy, Arthroscopic Lateral Meniscal repair and Arthroscopic Loose Body removal. The least predictable surgical outcomes are with Arthroscopic Chondroplasty for arthritis and Arthroscopic Lateral Retinacular Release for patellar tracking problems.
Diagnostic Arthroscopy: Even in the age of high resolution 3T MRI scans there is still a role for the surgeon to only look inside the knee for diagnostic purposes.
This is done to assess healing of meniscal repair, looking for wearing of Total Knee Replacement, healing of microfracture, healing of Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation, assessment of ligament injury (or a new injury or after surgical reconstruction of knee ligament), or when knee symptoms are unexplained even after a physical, Xray, history, and MRI of the knee area.
A complete report on this topic can be found on the website of Phoenix knee doctor, Dr. Stefan Tarlow.
Patients are on crutches for up to several days, take oral pain medications for less than a week, return to their normal jobs in 2-4 days, and are typically completely recovered in 2-4 weeks (for simple arthroscopic procedures such as chondroplasty, menisectomy, lateral release and loose body removal).
Arthroscopy procedure outcomes vary, but can be predicted based on diagnosis and age. As a general rule, if the patient is 55 or younger with only one problem (such as a torn meniscus, a loose body, a small area of joint surface damage) tend to have a higher chance of successful surgical outcomes.
Patients older than 55 years with greater than one disease process (the most common is torn meniscus with chondral damage " commonly known as arthritis) have variable outcomes after knee arthroscopy [improved knee probability in 60% range for multiple disease process knees].
The best surgical outcomes are after Arthroscopic Medial Menisectomy, Arthroscopic Lateral Meniscal repair and Arthroscopic Loose Body removal. The least predictable surgical outcomes are with Arthroscopic Chondroplasty for arthritis and Arthroscopic Lateral Retinacular Release for patellar tracking problems.
Diagnostic Arthroscopy: Even in the age of high resolution 3T MRI scans there is still a role for the surgeon to only look inside the knee for diagnostic purposes.
This is done to assess healing of meniscal repair, looking for wearing of Total Knee Replacement, healing of microfracture, healing of Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation, assessment of ligament injury (or a new injury or after surgical reconstruction of knee ligament), or when knee symptoms are unexplained even after a physical, Xray, history, and MRI of the knee area.
A complete report on this topic can be found on the website of Phoenix knee doctor, Dr. Stefan Tarlow.
About the Author:
Dr. Tarlow is a Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon with over 20 years specializing in knee surgery. He opened his own clinic, Advanced Knee Care, with a focus on specialty patient care. Click here to learn more about Dr. Tarlow, Phoenix knee surgeons and Phoenix and Mesa-area Knee Arthroscopy.
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