Arthroscopy and Knee Surgery
Typically a healthy patient can go home the same day after having arthroscopic knee surgery. Be sure to talk over the details with your hospital or surgical center. When you are preparing for this surgery, you should adhere to normal precautions. For example, you should not eat or drink after midnight on the night preceding your surgery. Be sure to arrive at the hospital an hour or two before your surgery is scheduled so you will have plenty of time for preparation.
When you arrive at the hospital, a member of the anesthesiology team will meet with you and perform an evaluation to determine what type of anesthesia will work best for you. There are three types that are typically used with arthroscopic knee surgery. Sometimes local anesthesia is used. This just numbs the knee. On other occasions, regional anesthesia is used. This will numb you from the waist down. There are also times when general anesthesia is used. This will render you unconscious for the duration of the surgery.
If regional or local anesthesia are used, you will be awake during your surgery. If this is the case, you will be able to watch your surgery on a monitor if you wish.
Initially, your orthopedic surgeon will make a few small incisions in your knee. After this, your knee joint will be irrigated with a sterile solution that will wash any cloudy fluid away. This will enable the surgeon to have a clear view of the interior of your knee.
At this point, the surgeon will use an arthroscope to look into your knee and diagnose your problem. The surgeon (and you if you wish) will be able to see an image of the interior of your knee projected on a monitor. This image will enable the surgeon to guide the arthroscope to view the interior of your knee. For surgical treatment, your surgeon will have an assortment of small surgical instruments that can be inserted into your knee through the incisions. Your surgeon may use small clamps, scissors, lasers, and motorized shavers among other sophisticated instruments.
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This part of the procedure will last forty-five minutes to an hour-and-a-half.
Here are some treatments you can commonly expect with knee arthroscopy:
Inflamed synovial tissue removal.
Cruciate ligaments that have torn will be reconstructed.
Loose bone and cartilage fragment removal.
Torn sections of articular cartilage may be trimmed.
Meniscal cartilage that has torn will be removed or, if possible, repaired.
When your surgery is done, your surgeon will either stitch or tape your incisions and will cover them with a bandage.
You will then wait in the recovery room for an hour or two, after which you can have a friend or family member drive you home.