Medicine in general and Surgery in particular are evolving towards more and more advanced techniques that are characterized by achieving more precise solutions for each problem, but with the least possible aggression and the lowest possible risk.
The specialty of Traumatology and Orthopedic Surgery is not far behind. Some of its professionals, such as Dr. Casal, advocate introducing minimally invasive surgery as a therapeutic option with arthroscopic or endoscopic techniques whenever possible.
These techniques maintain the precision of open techniques, since they provide direct vision of the area to be operated on, while preserving the integrity of all the tissues that are damaged by open access. They require a high degree of training, skill and precision, but their benefits are unquestionable.
The accesses are made through incisions of between 0.5 and 1 cm called “portals”. They have a multitude of applications:
Knee, hip, shoulder or ankle arthroscopies solve problems such as cuff tears or instabilities in the shoulder, meniscus or anterior cruciate ligament tears in the knee, impingement in the hip, etc.
Tenoscopy is the percutaneous access to the tendon sheaths to explore and sometimes treat them, without causing the damage and sequelae caused by opening them in the open.
Endoscopy, perhaps less well known, differs from arthroscopy in that the working area, instead of being the inside of a joint, is an area in which there is no previous cavity, such as the back of the ankle.
In the traumatology team of Centro Médico El Viso, directed by Dr. Casal, all areas of the specialty are covered, both open and percutaneous, arthroscopic and endoscopic techniques, especially in Spine, Knee, Ankle and Foot.
The multidisciplinary team is composed of surgeons, physiotherapists and podiatrists, who work synergistically to achieve the best results.
This way of working makes a difference in the evolution of patients, but even more so in the case of amateur and professional athletes and dancers, in which Dr. Casal is a specialist.
The ankle is one of the joints in which arthroscopy and endoscopy is in full development, both accessing the anterior chamber (arthroscopy) and the posterior area (endoscopy). In experienced hands it can offer good solutions for problems of the athlete or ballet dancer as the sequelae of sprains or fractures, tendinitis, impingement, instabilities, osteoarthritis or cartilage injuries. In the spine, with a single access of no more than 1 cm. in skin, the disc herniation is accessed to solve many cases of sciatica. This technique is called Transforaminal Lumbar Percutaneous Percutaneous Discectomy. After this technique, patients walk a few hours after the operation fully recovered and are discharged within 24 hours.