What is an arthroscopy of the hip?
An arthroscopy (also called ‘keyhole’ surgery) allows your surgeon to see inside your hip using a camera inserted through small cuts in the skin. They should be able to treat some problems using special surgical instruments. What are the benefits of surgery? The main benefit of surgery is to confirm exactly what the problem is and in many cases to treat the problem at the same time. Are there any alternatives to surgery? Problems inside a joint can often be diagnosed using special tests such as CT and MRI scans. However, you may then need an arthroscopy to treat the problem. What does the operation involve? Hip arthroscopy is performed under a general anaesthetic. The patient’s leg is strapped into a traction table that gives distraction of the hip joint, pulling the joint open in order to allow the passage of the arthroscope (a small rigid telescope with a digital camera on the end) into the space between the ball (femoral head) and socket (acetabulum) of the joint. Small probes and o
