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
Wrist arthroscopy consists of wrist immobilization, oral NSAIDs and/or injection with corticoids. Diagnostic wrist arthroscopy may also be indicated when other imaging techniques, such as MRI and ultrasonography, need confirmation on observed uncertainties or when other imaging techniques failed to establish a clear diagnosis. This makes arthroscopy an important diagnostic tool for some common anomalies around the wrist. However, relying on arthroscopic findings in the setting of an unclear preoperative diagnosis yields limited diagnostic benefit. Therefore, its use should be limited to the cases with other objective clinical findings. There are several therapeutic wrist arthroscopy indications, in this article the focus will