What is it?

You might require an arthroscopy if you suffer from persistent pain, swelling and stiffness in your shoulder that physiotherapy and/or injections have not resolved.

Shoulder arthroscopy is a method of keyhole surgery which is performed through a very small incision using special instruments.

It is a technique that can be adopted to treat a number of conditions, including:

• To repair torn tendons (such as the rotator cuff)
• To remove loose fragments or spurs of bone or cartilage
• To treat frozen shoulder
• To stabilise the shoulder
• To improve mobility and reduce pain if you’re suffering from arthritis

Diagnosis and treatment options

Your consultant will examine you and ask you to demonstrate certain movements to check how well your shoulder is working.

You might need some additional tests:

• X-ray
• Ultrasound scan
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan

As the equipment needed for this operation is much smaller than traditional surgical tools only minor cuts need to be made to the skin and therefore, the healing time is much faster.

The benefits of an arthroscopy include:

• Less pain afterwards
• Less risk of infection
• You can generally go home on the same day
• You should be able to return to your normal level of physical activity more quickly