No abstract

Needle arthroscopy has experienced a substantial increase in image quality due to technical innovation, which has brought needle arthroscopic interventional possibilities along. Repair of meniscal tears is gaining popularity relative to meniscectomy and may be such a procedure that is suitable for needle arthroscopy. We here present a needle arthroscopic technique for all-inside repair of meniscal tears in the red zone and redewhite zone. With the use of local anesthesia only, the procedure is easy to perform for the surgeon and well-tolerable for the patient. Compared with conventional approaches to meniscal repair, needle arthroscopy may result in improved patient experience, decreased soft-tissue trauma, speedier recovery, and less need for personnel and hospital facilities. Combined, the advantages may lead to decreased overall costs as well.A meniscal tear is a common problem. In the United States alone, approximately 1 million meniscal surgeries are performed each year. 1 This rather large demand necessitates an effort to innovate and try to provide increased quality of care at lower costs. Indeed, surgical treatment of meniscal injuries has evolved from open resection in the past to arthroscopic repair in the present. 2 Needle arthroscopy now offers adequate image quality 3 and provides the opportunity to further innovate the delivery of care. We here describe a technique for needle arthroscopic, all-inside repair of meniscal tears in the red zone and redewhite zone, as it is performed by one of the senior authors (R.v.D.). This approach can be performed under local anesthesia and in the procedure room. The study was conducted in agreement with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments and was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the University of Amsterdam (AMC), with reference number W20_357 # 20.412.