Arthroscopy is a surgical procedure in which various disorders of the joints are treated through keyhole. An arthroscope is basically an optical instrument used to examine the interior of joint through a key hole. The history of viewing body cavities goes back to 1805 when a German physician Philipp Buzzini used a crude instrument to examine body cavities. Since then copic surgery has seen a rapid progression and is the order of the day. Professor Kenji Takagi in Tokyo has traditionally been credited for performing the first arthroscopic examination of the knee joint of a patient in 1919.  Arthroscopy is a very advanced form of orthopaedic surgery in which various ligaments, capsular and meniscal injuries of the joints are treated. Key hole surgery is being performed by all surgeons and has a tremendous importance in orthopaedics, general surgery, neuro-surgery, ENT, Gynae/obstetrics etc.
Arthroscopic surgery offers advantages which far outweigh its disadvantages. The advantages include
-Key hole incision
-No or minimal scar
-Very little inflammatory response
-Short post-operative period with decreased pain
-Improved treatment
-Reduced hospital stay and overall cost
-Minimal complications.
The various problems of the joints which can be treated successfully by arthroscopy include
-Resection of synovial plicae
-Removal of loose bodies
-Debridement of patellar lesions
-Excision of torn menisci
- Repair of menisci
-Drilling and abrasions of chondral defects
-Retinacular release
-Synovectomy
-Treatment of osteochondrites dessicans
-Ligamentous repair and reconstruction
-Treatment of intraarticular fractures
-Recurrent patellar dislocation
-Rotator cuff tears
-Recurrent shoulder dislocation
-Acromioplasty
-Treatment of derangement of temporomandibular joint
-Biopsy of hip and ankle
-Carpal tunnel syndrome
Though complications are very rare however following complications have been mentioned in the literature
-Infections
-Synovial herniations and fistulae
-Instrument breakage
-Neurovascular injury
It is technically possible to do arthroscopic examination of almost every joint in the human body, the joints commonly examined and treated by arthroscopy are knee, shoulder, elbow, wrist, ankle, foot and hip.
Arthroscopy was started in the valley in 1983 in Bone & Joint hospital Barzullah by Late Professor Farooq Ashai. At that time there where only a few centres in whole of India which had arthroscopic facilities but due to the political turmoil the priorities of the hospital shifted from elective procedures to common problems like mass casualties. However Bone & Joint hospital barzullah tried to maintain the academic and scientific standards at par with rest of the world.
At present we have two state of art arthroscopic units in our hospital. Most of the faculty members including my own self, Dr. Muneer Farooq, Dr. K.A Kangoo,  Dr. B.A Mir,Dr. Altaf  Kawoosa, Dr. Arshad Bashir all are well versed with various orthopaedic procedures and are doing arthroscopic surgeries routinely. Most of the arthroscopic knee surgeries are being performed in Bone & Joint hospital Barzullah. The procedures include meniscal tears, ligament injuries, intraarticular fractures, meniscal cysts, loose bodies, biopsy etc. All these procedures are being done almost free. There are about five research postgraduate studies under way on arthroscopic procedures. Our dates for arthroscopic surgeries have gone beyond 2013. Previously patients had to move outside state for such procedures but now due to the availability of such facility in our hospital people hardly go outside state for these specialised surgeries. In last few years we have performed about a thousand arthroscopic procedures in our hospital.

Dr Halwai is HoD Orthopaedics, Bone & Joint Surgery Hospital, Barzullah, Srinagar.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 IST