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Shoulder Arthroscopy
The shoulder is a difficult joint to open up surgically. An open surgical approach to the shoulder requires cutting muscles, tendons, and ligaments, just to get at the inside of the shoulder. Even then, it may be difficult to see the inside of the joint, and all of those cut structures need to be repaired on the way out.
The arthroscope has made many surgical procedures in the shoulder easier, and in some cases simply possible at all. The arthroscope is a small tube, about six inches long, and a quarter of an inch in diameter, with a camera attached at one end. The arthroscope is inserted into a joint, and the inside of that joint is seen on a television monitor. Specialized instruments are inserted into the joint through other small puncture wounds.
Shoulder arthroscopy is technically quite difficult, and requires specialized training. Over the past several years, however, it has become the treatment of choice in treating many injuries to the shoulder.
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