Wrist arthroscopy - diagnosis and therapeutic

Professor Kenji Takagi was the first to report on the use of large joint arthroscopy in 1920 [1]. Whilst early attempts were hampered by cumbersome instrumentation, developments over the following 50 years would allow small joint instrumentation. In 1979, Chen reported on the development of a technique for wrist arthroscopy [2]. In 1986 Roth et al. [3] presented an “Instructional Course Lecture” on wrist arthroscopy at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons meeting, which brought it into the mainstream of orthopaedic surgery. Since then, wrist arthroscopy has continued to evolve as an important diagnostic and therapeutic tool. Wrist arthroscopy now has many indications and these continue to be extended as the principles of open surgical procedures are applied to the arthroscope (Table 13.1).