Medicine, and more specifically surgery, is moving towards techniques that seek to achieve more precise solutions for each problem, looking for the lowest risk and minimum possible aggression. Find out how it does it from Dr. Casal Grau, an expert in Traumatology.
What are the minimally invasive arthroscopic and endoscopic techniques?
The specialty of Traumatology and Orthopedic Surgery has evolved hand in hand with cutting-edge equipment such as ours. We advocate the introduction of minimally invasive surgery with arthroscopic or endoscopic techniques as a therapeutic option, whenever feasible.
The surgeon must master the open techniques in Orthopedic Surgery, and it is then when he is ready to develop the arthroscopic and endoscopic ones. These are based on obtaining a vision and access to the area to be operated on without damaging the tissues, which provides enormous benefits to patients.
What are the applications of these techniques?
- Knee, hip, shoulder or ankle arthroscopies: they solve rotator cuff tears or shoulder instabilities, meniscus or anterior cruciate ligament operations in the knee, among others.
- Tenoscopy: access to the tendon sheaths to visualize and, in cases, treat with the least possible damage.
- Endoscopy: the area in which it is performed, instead of being the inside of a joint as in arthroscopy, is an area without a previous cavity. For example, herniated discs in the spine or problems in the posterior region of the ankle in sports.
What solutions do we offer?
In our orthopedic team we include all anatomical areas of the specialty and handle all techniques, from open to percutaneous, arthroscopic and endoscopic techniques.
The multidisciplinary team consists of surgeons, physiotherapists and podiatrists who work together to achieve the best possible results. This multidisciplinary approach makes the difference in the evolution and recovery of patients, being especially important in the case of athletes, both amateur and professional, and dancers, in which we are specialists.
In experienced hands our techniques can provide optimal solutions for problems of the athlete or ballet dancer, such as sequelae of sprains, Achilles tendinitis or other tendons, sequelae of fractures, ankle instabilities, etc.. Also in various adult problems, for example related to osteoarthritis or cartilage lesions.
In the spine, we handle exclusively in Spain the technique called Transforaminal Lumbar Percutaneous Discectomy. This allows to solve sciatica or stenosis with minimal aggression, without general anesthesia, without altering the bone structure of the spine and patients are discharged within a few hours.
As for the ankle, both anterior arthroscopy and posterior endoscopic access avoid the damage and adhesions that form in the area after open surgery. In addition, the sequelae of sprains and fractures, cartilage injuries, ligament repairs and instabilities, or chronic inflammation can be treated with a high rate of positive results.