How much do you know about shoulder arthroscopy?

  Shoulder arthroscopy is performed by cutting a number of chopstick-thin or even smaller holes in the skin, extending a special camera lens and surgical instruments into the joint, and operated by an experienced surgeon under the supervision of a connected monitor to diagnose and treat various joint diseases. Compared with open surgery, shoulder arthroscopy has many features such as small incision, low infection rate, minimal skin scarring, low postoperative disability rate, and quick recovery.  The faster development of shoulder arthroscopy in China is still a matter of the last 3-5 years, but so far, there are only a few mainland doctors who can comfortably perform shoulder arthroscopy, and there are only a few skilled shoulder arthroscopists abroad.  This is because shoulder arthroscopy is completely different from knee arthroscopy. Shoulder arthroscopy requires precise eye-brain-hand coordination, which is difficult for most people to accomplish, or even never complete. Therefore, although many units have shoulder arthroscopy equipment, it has been difficult to perform minimally invasive surgery under the mirror, but rather under the mirror in combination with incision, which is not really a minimally invasive technique, or “mini open” surgery.  Of course, although recovery is slightly difficult, the results of mini open surgery can be very good, so it is advisable to perform limited incision shoulder surgery first if the shoulder arthroscopy technique has not yet been fully mastered, in order to avoid complications that should not occur.  With the accelerated work efficiency and pace of life in modern times, shoulder pain has become one of the disorders that bother the middle-aged and elderly. People often have the misconception that pain around the shoulder joint is frozen shoulder. In fact, if a patient has pain around the shoulder joint and restricted shoulder movement, a variety of diseases should be considered, such as frozen shoulder, habitual shoulder dislocation, acromioclavicular arthritis, cervical spondylosis, tumor and infection, etc. All of them need to be diagnosed through medical history, symptoms, signs and auxiliary examinations, and shoulder arthroscopy can be used when traditional treatment methods are ineffective.  Shoulder arthroscopy is mainly suitable for the diagnosis and treatment of synovial shavings, removal of free bodies, shoulder dislocation or subluxation, glenoid labral tears, rotator cuff tears, frozen shoulder, rostral shoulder ligament and acromioplasty, frozen shoulder, rotator cuff injury, calcific tendonitis, biceps tendon injury, synovitis, septic arthritis, osteoarthritis and other pathologies.