Orthopedic injuries are a major reason for injury-related hospital visits in the U.S. Millions of patients seek emergency care every year for injuries that affect their muscles, joints, bones, and other musculoskeletal elements. Although some milder orthopedic injuries are treatable with conservative treatments like rest, medication, and physical therapy, other diseases or injuries require surgery to manage symptoms and restore normal functionality. Thankfully, medical advancements now make it easy as more physicians utilize Fort Worth arthroscopy to address orthopedic injuries that need surgery. Here are the many benefits of considering orthopedic surgery for your foot condition.
- Diagnosis and Care In One Procedure
Arthroscopic surgery is not only utilized for treatment. Your doctor can also use this procedure as a diagnostic tool. Your specialist uses the arthroscope to view real-time pictures of the body’s internal structures on a monitor.
This technique is often utilized to diagnose and address orthopedic concerns affecting the elbow, hip, knee, wrist, shoulder, and ankle. Your specialist can perform repairs to damaged bone, cartilage, and ligaments.
- Reduces Postoperative Discomfort
As the surgeon can see what is inside the body, they can reduce damage to neighboring structures, such as tendons and muscles. Postoperative discomfort is thus hugely reduced and more manageable than with conventional open surgery, particularly soon after beginning physical therapy exercises.
- Reduced Risk of Infection
Your skin is the body’s first defense from infection. Thus, there is an inherent risk once the surgeon opens your skin. Nonetheless, this risk does not generally stem from surgical tools as they are all sterilized.
The greater risk of infection results from the germs in your skin. The bigger the cut, the higher the risk. However, because arthroscopy utilizes tiny cuts, the risk of infection is hugely reduced.
- Shorter Recovery
Arthroscopy is minimally intrusive, so you will not have huge cuts or numerous stitches. Your cut might require only a single stitch, or your doctor may close it with a bandage. Lesser stitching means reduced trauma, which lets your body concentrate on healing the affected area. While some individuals might need a sling or crutches, numerous patients who have undergone arthroscopy claim they resume their routine activities in a few days.
- Lesser Scarring
Nobody likes scars because of their unsightly look. However, scarring around the joints poses even more troubling concerns. The heavier cells and thicker skin can limit your movement, particularly if they are huge. Besides, it is hard to keep scarring closed around movable joints.
Moving your shoulder, ankle, or knee can stretch the healing skin and widen your scarring, which prolongs healing time. Arthroscopic surgery utilizes tiny cuts, ensuring scars are tinier. As such, these scars are easier to keep shut as they are supported by the surrounding skin. Moreover, if you are concerned about aesthetics, most of this scarring is so tiny that it is not easily detectable.
Surgical procedures have advanced in recent years, with many becoming minimally intrusive. One commonly-used procedure by orthopedists today is arthroscopy. This surgical technique has numerous added benefits over conventional open procedures, including less risk, shorter downtime, reduced scarring, and post-operative pain. Unfortunately, while numerous musculoskeletal issues are treatable with minimally invasive treatments, some concerns still require open surgery. During your pre-treatment assessment, your specialist will discuss every procedure’s potential risks and benefits to help you make an informed decision.
