Ankle arthroscopy can be used for diagnosing various defects, or even as an alternative to open ankle surgery. Lists of defects that can be diagnosed include:
- Ankle fractures: Arthoscopy can ensure correctness of fracture repair. This additionally prevents the risk of post-traumatic arthritis.
- Anterior Ankle impingement: The condition is commonly referred to as” Athlete’s ankle” or “Footballer’s ankle”. The disorder happens when inflammation occurs on the ankle joint on continuous stress. Walking in elevated areas can cause considerable amount of pain. Diagnosis is carried out by the identification of bone spurs.
- Posterior Ankle Impingement: Similar to the anterior ankle, inflammation can occur in the back of the ankle (hindfoot). Other conditions like inflamed soft tissue, bone spurs, accessory bone etc can be removed via arthroscopy.
- Osteochondral defects: They are also known as Osteochondritis Desssicans or OCDs. After performing arthroscopic diagnosis, treatment methods are decided upon. The various options of treatment can be abrasion arthroplasty, fragment fixation, bone grafting procedures subchondral drilling and microfracture.
- Synovitis: As ‘-itis’ refer to any sort of inflammation, synovitis means inflammation that occur in the synovial lining of the joints. The inflammation can be due to numerous factors which may include overuse, acute trauma, degenerative joint disease etc. Arthroscopy procedure can be performed if the non-surgical procedures fail to meet the desired amount of relief.
