Hip Arthroscopy Surgery

Arthroscopy is the examination of the interior of a joint by using an arthroscope or "scope" – a flexible, fiber-optic tube with a small camera that is connected to a monitor. This allows a surgeon to see a magnified view of your joint. Specially designed arthroscopic surgical tools are also used to perform different types of minimally invasive joint surgery.

Arthroscopy of the hip joint was refined in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since then, the development of advanced arthroscopic surgical equipment has allowed orthopedic surgeons to treat conditions that were previously untreatable or which required more invasive, open procedures.

What are the advantages of hip arthroscopy?

A hip scope has several advantages over traditional open hip surgery, because it:

causes very little trauma to the joint (which minimizes hip pain and scarring)
is generally done on an outpatient basis (where patients return home after the procedure)
typically has a short recovery period
may postpone the advancement of hip arthritis by treating its cause in the early stages
can delay or eliminate the need for a hip replacement by preemptively treating conditions that cause osteoarthritis of the hip

Which hip conditions can be treated arthroscopically?

Common injuries and conditions that can be fixed with arthroscopic hip surgery are:

hip impingement (femoroacetabular impingement), which limits range of motion and is a major cause of osteoarthritis
repair or trimming of a labral tear, where a specialized cartilage called the labrum, which lines the hip socket becomes torn
removal of:
- loose fragments of cartilage inside the joint (which are usually caused by an injury, such as a torn labrum)
- diseased or inflamed joint lining
- painful bone spurs