Orthopedic surgery pioneered in the early 1950s by Dr. Masaki Watanabe of Japan to perform minimally invasive cartilage surgery and reconstructions of torn ligaments. Arthroscopy allows patients to recover from the surgery in a matter of days, rather than the weeks to months required by conventional, 'open' surgery. It is a very popular technique. Knee arthroscopy is one of the most common operations performed by orthopedic surgeons today and is often combined with meniscectomy or chondroplasty. The majority of upper extremity outpatient orthopedic procedures are now performed arthroscopically. Arthroplasty is an orthopedic surgery where the articular surface of a musculoskeletal joint is
Arthroscopy during the 1970s and 1980s. Arthroscopy surgical skills have been traditionally taught in cadaver labs, although the progression to in vivo operations varies from country to country. The International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS) holds a list of approved courses for gaining surgical skills. A new teaching technique uses medical simulation as an alternative to cadaver training. High fidelity simulators range from those that use real surgical tools and passive haptics, such as VirtaMed's ArthroS™, to those that rely on active haptic feedback, such as the Arthro Mentor™ from Simbionix. When studied, passive haptics have