The arthroscope is a small fiber optic instrument attached to a camera, 3-5 millimeters in size, that can be placed into the shoulder joint. The athroscope is inserted through a small incisions about the shoulder. This procedure evaluates the entire shoulder joint, including the ligaments, the biceps tendon, the rotator cuff, the joint lining and the cartilage surface.
Nursemaid’s elbow is one of the most common orthopedic injuries seen in children between the ages of 1-3 years. It is not, as some think, a dislocation of the elbow, or rather a slip of one of the ligaments in the elbow over a bone. This occurs because children’s ligaments are loose and the bones are not fully formed yet.
Pain in the neck that radiates to the shoulder and often down the entire arm is often caused by a pinched nerve in the neck. This is known medically as a cervical radiculopathy. The spine is comprised of a column of bones called vertebrae and within the vertebra lays the spinal cord. In the neck or cervical spine, nerves leave the spinal cord through openings in the vertebra and run down the arm providing sensation and motor function to the arms.
Occasionally people have fractures (bone breaks) that require surgery. Breaks like this include those that cannot be controlled by a cast, or immobilization, those that have the bone fragments in a position that does not give good function, or those that break the skin.
The biceps muscle is the main muscle front of your arm. Like all muscles in the body it attaches to bone with tendons. Tendons attach the biceps muscle to the bone at both the shoulder and the elbow. When the tendon tears at the elbow is known as a distal biceps tendon rupture. It is fairly common for the biceps muscle to rupture at the elbow. When this happens it causes pain and weakness at the elbow.
The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint, providing strength and stability. Above the rotator cuff there is a bursa, or sac of tissue, that covers and protects the rotator cuff as it comes into close contact with bones around the shoulder. When the rotator cuff is injured or damaged it can lead to inflammation of the bursa (bursitis), causing pain and loss of motion.
What is Shoulder Arthritis?
Osteoarthritis or “degenerative joint disease” is the most common type of arthritis of the shoulder. The other less commonly seen types of arthritis in the shoulder are rheumatoid or inflammatory arthritis and arthritis that occurs after severe trauma.
Tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicondylitis, is a painful condition that occurs on the outside part of the elbow. Although described in tennis players who obtain this condition from a poor backhand stroke, the vast majority of people who suffer from tennis elbow do not play and may have never played tennis. The problem arises from overuse of the arm. It can happen with any sport and even those who don’t participate in any sports.
Arthroscopy is a minimally invasive procedure that allows a surgeon to look inside a joint by using small incisions (portals) and instruments the width of a pencil. Most people are aware of knee and shoulder arthroscopy, but the elbow joint has many conditions that can be treated with arthroscopy as well. The elbow is the joint that connects the upper arm bone and the forearm bones. Because the incisions used with elbow arthroscopy are smaller and disrupt less soft tissue than conventional open surgery, pain, swelling and stiffness are minimized and recovery is often faster.
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