Complications of arthroscopy and arthroscopic surgery: Results of a national survey

Since their introduction into the armamentarium of the orthopaedic surgeon, arthroscopy and arthroscopic have Undergone rapid increased utilization in the diagnosis and treatment of knee pathology. The reduct ion in postoperat ive morbidity, hospitalization, and time away from work following arthroscopic knee have led to the use of terms such as bandaid surgery by the lay public. Sadly, this concept of arthroscopic being bandaid surgery has filtered into the orthopaedic community. Hence, despite the tremendous increase in performance of these procedures, little attention has been paid to the complications associated with them. Elliot (1), Fiddan and Porrier (2), Whipple and Bassett (3), and Hansen, et al. (4) reported no complications directly related to arthroscopy. Lindenbaum (5), mentions that complications following arthroscopy are rare. According to Zarins (6), complications following arthroscopy occur in 0.1-0.2% of patients, and Bunker and Thomas (7), report 0.6% complications. Since these complicat ions occur in such a small percentage of cases, a large