Joint pain can really hurt, especially when it keeps you from what you need or love to do.

At Deaconess Illinois Union County, we can help you get back on track. That includes minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery to treat a variety of hip, knee and shoulder conditions.

Orthopedic surgeons specialize in the latest techniques, requiring just a few small incisions. For you, that may mean less pain, faster recovery and quicker return to the life you love.

Benefits of Arthroscopy

During arthroscopy, Deaconess Illinois Union County’s orthopedic surgeons use a pencil-size instrument to look inside the joint in order to diagnose and treat an injury or condition. The arthroscope, a fiber optic camera, is so slim that it can be inserted into the joint through one or more tiny “keyhole” incisions in the skin.

Originally, arthroscopy was simply a diagnostic tool for planning standard open surgery. Now, with the development of better instruments and surgical techniques, many joint conditions can be treated arthroscopically:

• Hips
  • Hip impingement, which limits range of motion and is a major cause of osteoarthritis
  • Torn labrums, which affects cushioning of the hip socket
  • Loose fragments of cartilage inside the hip joint, usually caused by an injury
• Knees
  • ACL and other ligament injuries
  • Chondromalacia (wearing or injury of knee cartilage cushion)
  • Loose bone fragments and/or cartilage in the knee
• Shoulders
  • Rotator cuff repairs
  • Shoulder impingement syndrome
  • Should instability, including torn labrums

Arthroscopy can also help postpone arthritis by treating its cause in the early stages, and delay or eliminate the need for joint replacement by preemptively treating conditions that cause osteoarthritis.

At Deaconess Illinois Union County, we usually perform arthroscopy on an outpatient basis, allowing you to leave the hospital the same day and recover comfortably at home.