Joint replacement treats joints worn out over decades. Arthroscopy treats the other kind of problem — the football tackle, the awkward fall on the stairs, the shoulder that pops while lifting a suitcase to the luggage rack. These injuries happen to younger, active joints, and the goal is different: not to replace the joint, but to repair it and preserve it.
Dr. Pradyumna Chakraverty performs arthroscopic (keyhole) procedures of the knee and shoulder at his South Kolkata practice. With an MS in Orthopaedics from KPC Medical College and an active trauma practice, he sees the full spectrum — from weekend cricketers to genuine athletes to homemakers whose knee locked while getting up from the floor.
Knee. The commonest arthroscopic patients are those with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears and meniscus tears. An ACL tear typically follows a twisting injury — a pop, swelling within hours, and afterwards a knee that no longer trusts itself on uneven ground. Meniscus tears cause catching, clicking and pain along the joint line, and a displaced tear can lock the knee outright. Both are covered in depth on their own pages: ACL tear treatment and meniscus tear treatment.
Shoulder. Rotator cuff tears, recurrent dislocation and impingement respond well to arthroscopic care, and the stiff shoulder — frozen shoulder — usually needs no surgery at all, though it must be distinguished from a cuff tear. The shoulder pain and frozen shoulder page explains how they are told apart.
Passing a camera through a small portal instead of opening the joint means less disturbance to healthy tissue, less post-operative pain, and rehabilitation that starts earlier. But arthroscopy is a tool, not a philosophy. Some injuries do better without any operation; a few do better with open surgery. What matters is the diagnosis — a careful history, a proper examination, and imaging read by the person who will actually operate. Dr. Chakraverty reads his patients' MRIs himself and correlates them with the examination, because a scan report alone has sent many people to the wrong operation.
An excellent repair followed by poor rehabilitation gives a poor result — this is truer in arthroscopy than anywhere else in orthopaedics. Every arthroscopic patient leaves with a staged physiotherapy plan: what is protected in the early weeks, when strengthening begins, and which milestones must be met before running, and later sport, are reintroduced. Return to sport is earned by the joint, not granted by the calendar, and Dr. Chakraverty will be straightforward with you about where you are in that progression.
Keyhole surgery of a joint: a narrow camera and fine instruments repair ligaments, menisci or the rotator cuff through small incisions — generally less pain and earlier rehabilitation than open surgery.
No. Many settle with rest, bracing and physiotherapy. Surgery is for joints that stay unstable, lock, or have tear patterns known not to heal on their own.
No — a meniscus can tear while squatting at home, and rotator cuff problems are commonest after middle age.
Days for simple procedures; months of graded rehabilitation for ligament reconstruction. The specific timeline is set out before you decide.
The aim is a stable, pain-free, functional joint. How close you get to pre-injury sport depends on the injury, the repair and your rehabilitation — discussed honestly, not promised.
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