Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Manager's Guide to Orthopedic Surgery - August 2014

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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9 A U G U S T 2 0 1 4 | S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E outpatient discharges and rapid rehabilita- tion. Here are some of the ways arthroscopy's advances over the past decade or two have made the process more efficient, more effective and safer. Visual evolution The most commonly performed arthro- scopic procedures, by a long margin, are meniscectomies in the knees and shoulder repairs of all types, such as rotator cuff and labrum tears. Knees and shoulders are large joints, so those areas are amenable to arthroscopy, but the reason why they see the most frequent treatment is simple epidemiology: They're the joints that are injured most often. But arthroscopy enables a view into any joint — knee, shoulder, hip, ankle, elbow or wrist — and the view has only improved over time. The original innovation of arthroscopy in the mid-1960s was its pencil-thin probe, which, when coupled with a light source and magnifying lens, offered orthopedic surgeons a look inside the joint without opening it up. Since then, the arthroscope has evolved into even more sophisticated equipment. Fiber optics have replaced bulbs for providing light, while high-defini- tion miniaturized cameras and video mon- itors have changed the view of surgery M I N I M A L L Y I N V A S I V E S U R G E R Y SEE YOUR WAY CLEAR Arthroscopic technology allows minimally invasive views and interventions where open surgery was once the only option.

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