What is the minimally invasive arthroscopic technique?

  As the old saying goes, “the old man’s legs get old before the old man’s legs, and the old man’s knees get old before the old man’s knees”. The knee joint is the largest, most complex, most active and most vulnerable joint in the human body, and it can be damaged if we are not careful in life and sports. As a result, the knee joint is the joint with the highest incidence of disease in the body. As the weather gets cooler, the number of people suffering from knee pain is increasing.  Symptoms in the knee are often non-specific, such as pain, weak legs, and joint interlocking, and can be caused by cruciate ligament injury, meniscal injury, patellofemoral abnormalities, articular cartilage lesions, or even simply by the ingrowth of an abnormal synovial membrane. Currently, the most common knee disorders are osteoarthritis, synovitis, meniscal and cruciate ligament injuries, etc. The main manifestations are knee swelling and pain, popping, friction, sliding, joint interlocking and knee tenderness.  Some elderly people insist on climbing mountains and stairs every day in order to strengthen their bodies, but this has led to knee pain. When climbing, the knee joint needs to be bent under the weight of the whole body. The machine needs to be lubricated by a drop of oil, and so do the joints of the human body, with lubricating fluid secreted in the joint cavity to reduce the wear and tear between the cartilage of the joints. The secretion of “lubricating fluid” in the joint cavity of middle-aged and elderly people will gradually decrease with age, or even stop completely. There is a “spacer” (meniscus) in the middle of the knee joint, and as we age, the degree of wear on the spacer will increase. In the absence of “lubricating fluid” and damaged “spacers”, the cartilage and cartilage rub directly against each other when the joint is in motion, making it easy for the knee joint to break down if it is not loaded for a long time. In addition, many white-collar workers do not have time to go to the gym, and often choose some simple office exercises, such as running stairs, jumping rope to lose weight, but they only focus on oxygen consumption, exercise and calorie consumption, but ignore the most important weight-bearing factors of the joints. We often encounter sports enthusiasts in the clinic, young men in their twenties, but the articular cartilage surface seen under the arthroscope is like that of a 60 year old man, the cartilage is thin, brittle and soft, even with a touch of a surgical hook, it can be stuck into the cartilage. Increased knee movement can lead to damage to the cartilage and ligaments of the knee, and once the wear and tear is excessive, it can lead to severe cartilage wear and ligament aging and various bone and joint diseases. We in climbing, jumping rope, climbing stairs, especially downhill and down the stairs, the strength of the force between the cartilage surface can be up to three times their own weight, a short time we can adjust their own recovery, but long-term exercise, it is clear that the knee joint will be overwhelmed. This is especially true for patients with pre-existing knee problems who, because of their lack of understanding of the disease, feel that they can reduce their symptoms through exercise, but the result is counterproductive: excessive exercise increases the wear and tear on the knee joint, stimulates the release of inflammatory factors in the knee joint, and accelerates the development of the original osteoarthritis.  In the early stages of the disease, people often do not pay attention to it, thinking that although it is a little uncomfortable, but does not affect the daily work and study, so they can tolerate it and do not go to the doctor, or just receive small acupuncture, acupuncture, plasters, physical therapy and other treatment, and when the problem is serious, can not walk, then remember to come to the hospital, but at this time most of the knee joint has been seriously deformed, not only delayed treatment, but also added to the difficulty of treatment.  The first step in the treatment of knee disorders is to ask the patient to brake, and the above-mentioned behavior violates the first principle in the first place, so that later medication, either oral or intra-articular injections, is needed to control the problem, and finally surgery may be necessary to completely relieve the symptoms. In the past, severe knee disease could only be treated surgically by incision of the knee joint after a clear diagnosis, but surgical incision was so wounded and painful that it often took months to restore knee function. Now, instead of months of recovery time, doctors can treat some knee conditions directly through minimally invasive knee arthroscopic techniques. Minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery for knee disorders is effective, with small incisions (usually 2-3 wounds of about 5 mm in length), no infection, minimal skin scarring, and can effectively remove harmful fluids, debris, intra-articular free bodies, damaged menisci and ligaments, and hyperplastic bone spurs in the joint cavity, resolve pain and interlocking problems, and treat with less trauma, less scarring, faster recovery, and fewer complications, and with The treatment is less invasive, less scarring, quicker recovery, less complications, and shorter and more precise, and the patient can walk on the same day after surgery. The total hospital stay is usually about 3 days, and the patient can be discharged on the first day after surgery. Because of the short hospital stay, the costs associated with the patient’s treatment are also greatly reduced. Most people can return to normal life and light work about 1 week after surgery and can participate in some sports or intense work after 4 weeks. This is why knee arthroscopy is so popular among patients with knee disorders.