During an arthroscopy, we look inside your knee using a small telescope with a light attached to a camera. This technique works with any joint in the body, although it is most commonly used with knees. Knee problems can happen at any age, and an arthroscopy is a safe and effective way to identify them and treat your knee.
Common knee problems include:
• Pain
• Swelling
• An inability to straighten the knee
How we treat you
An arthroscopy is normally performed under general anaesthetic, which means you are asleep during the operation. There are other forms of anaesthetic, and you should ask for details when you have your pre admission assessment, otherwise you can discuss these with the anaesthetist, when you meet on the day of surgery.
We use keyhole surgery to put the small camera and light inside your knee joint. To do this, we first make two small cuts around the knee (1/ 4 inch). Your consultant uses the camera to look inside your knee and find out what is wrong. Often the surgeon will be able to treat the problem there and then, for example by removing any loose fragments in the knee or damaged cartilage. Afterwards the cuts will be covered up with surgical tape, and there is usually no need for any stitches. You will have a bandage covering your knee to provide pressure.
The whole procedure takes around 20 to 30 minutes.
After the operation, it’s usual to go home the same day. However, if your consultant feels it’s necessary, you may be asked to stay overnight. It’s a good idea to come prepared, just in case.
Other available treatments
While there are other ways to investigate knee joint problems, an arthroscopy is the only way for us to get a direct view inside your joint.
We can often diagnose problems with an MRI scan, but we may still need to perform surgery to treat the problem.
Before your operation
Before you come into hospital for your operation, you will be asked questions about your health by one of our nurses. Further ‘pre assessment’ questions may be asked over the phone, or you might be
asked to come into the hospital for some simple tests, such as a blood test or a test on the heart called an ECG (Electrocardiogram).
