Hip arthroscopy is a minimally invasive procedure that can be used to diagnose and treat a wide variety of conditions affecting the hip joint. By giving doctors a clear view of the inside of the hip, arthroscopy procedure is useful for confirming the diagnosis of various imaging procedures, x-rays and MRIs for instance, as it provides your doctor with a three-dimensional, real time look at the affected area.
When undergoing a hip arthroscopy procedure, your surgeon will make a small incision near the affected area of the hip and insert an arthroscope, a long, flexible tube with a fiber-optic camera at its tip, into the hip joint. The camera displays a video feed of what is seen on a screen, and your surgeon is able to use this internal view to confirm diagnosis. If damage is detected, it can be attended to immediately by inserting surgical instruments into the incisions during the same procedure. Through this operation, your surgeon can replace or smooth damaged cartilage, join together torn tissue, trim bone spurs, remove of bone and tissue fragments, or realign the hip joint to reduce pain and inflammation.