Owner/Surgeon Small Animal Surgery Locum, PLLC Dallas, Texas
This lecture introduces the system of needle arthroscopy to the audience. Needle arthroscopes have been developed in the 1990’s in the human field as an alternative option to MRI when assessing intra-articular structures in people. The systems feature a 1-2mm large diameter arthroscope, attached to a tablet – type monitor. This technique can be performed with great precision to establish a diagnosis in the awake or only mildly sedated patient and has been shown to be better than MRI for example when inspecting the knee joints: it was 91% diagnostic versus MRI was 61% diagnostic. The first publication on this technique in the veterinary literature was by Dr. Fitch in 2014; a report on equine stifle-explore. The first report in small animals was by Dr. von Pfeil in 2021; a comparison between “classic” and needle arthroscopy to diagnose canine medial shoulder instability. There are certainly indications to consider this technique for our patients and this lecture aims to provide subjective information on what a potential user should be aware of.