Examining the Role of a Specialist in Hip Arthroscopy Surgery
In the past, undergoing any operation to repair a damaged joint would have involved a major surgical procedure followed by a lengthy period of recovery for a patient in pain, or immobilised as a result of an injury or disease. Since those days, however, an option to perform a number of these reparative procedures by less radical means has been developed, and is providing those in need with both a far less invasive experience and a faster recovery. Known as arthroscopy, it offers specialists in the orthopaedic field a means with which to perform surgery on a hip, knee, or shoulder joint with just a keyhole incision or two, rather than exposing the entire joint.
The success of the technique depends on an instrument known as an endoscope. Once inserted through a tiny incision, this narrow, tubular device can be guided around a joint by the surgeon. This provides him or her with a live video feed with which to view any evidence of damage or disease. First used for diagnostic purposes, the use of this exploratory tool was later extended to serve as a means with which to undertake selected surgical procedures. While focussing initially on repairs to the knee joint, specialists in this field now routinely employ arthroscopy to perform hip surgery.
Being much deeper than the knee joint, traction is necessary to create sufficient space to introduce the scope. After a visual inspection to confirm the diagnosis, the surgeon will often decide to proceed with a suitable treatment. For instance, a torn labrum causing pain can be trimmed back to the healthy tissue, or loose particles of bone and cartilage that may have become trapped between the articulating surfaces can be flushed out to restore pain-free movement. Occasionally, however, a diagnosis may remain uncertain. In such cases, specialists in hip arthroscopy can take advantage of keyhole surgery to obtain a biopsy for microscopic examination by a histopathologist.
Most patients will be discharged on the day of their operation and remain mobile with the aid of crutches until fully recovered.