Arthritis Health Center

How To Prepare continued...

Tell your doctor if you:

• Have allergies to any medicines, including anesthetics.
• Are taking any medicines, including blood-thinning medicines (such as warfarin [Coumadin]) or aspirin.
• Have had any bleeding problems, including blood clots in a vein (deep vein thrombosis, or DVT).
• Are or might be pregnant.
• Have a history of joint stiffness or arthritis. Joint damage caused by arthritis may make it difficult or impossible to do this procedure.
• Have had an X-ray of your joint that used contrast material (arthrogram) within the previous 10 days. The contrast material may cause inflammation within your joint that makes performing arthroscopy difficult. This inflammation also can prevent a clear picture of your joint during arthroscopy.
• Have a history of infection, such as septic arthritis, in the affected joint.
• Have a history of a broken bone (fracture) or injury to the affected joint.

Before the procedure, you will be asked to sign a consent form. Talk to your doctor about any concerns you have regarding the need for the test, its risks, how it will be done, or what the results will mean. To help you understand the importance of this test, fill out the medical test information form(What is a PDF document?).

You may have more tests, such as blood tests or urine tests, before your arthroscopy.

Arrange to have someone drive you home after the procedure.

If you have arthroscopy of your ankle, knee, or hip, your doctor will talk to you about having crutches available after the procedure. If you have arthroscopy of a joint in your arm, you will likely wear a sling or splint after the procedure.

How It Is Done

Arthroscopy is usually done by a doctor who specializes in bone, muscle, and joint surgery (orthopedic surgeon).

You will be asked to remove any jewelry and to wear a hospital gown. You may be given a sedative shortly before the procedure to help you relax. The skin around your joint may be shaved.

If general or regional is used, an anesthesia specialist will administer the medicine. A general anesthetic will make you unconscious during the procedure. Your heart rate and rhythm, blood pressure, and respirations will be monitored during the procedure. If a local anesthetic is used, it will be injected into the skin and joint space. If a local or regional anesthetic is used, your limb will be numb and you will be relaxed and drowsy but will remain conscious.

You usually lie on your back. Depending on which joint is being looked at, an inflatable band (tourniquet) may be used to temporarily restrict blood flow to your joint so your doctor can see all the structures in your joint. Your joint is scrubbed with an antiseptic solution and draped with sterile towels. Before the tourniquet is inflated, the joint will be elevated and may be wrapped with an elastic bandage to reduce blood flow to the joint.