KNEE ARTHROSCOPY UNDER LOCAL-ANESTHESIA - RESULTS AND EVALUATION OF PATIENTS SATISFACTION

A study of 55 consecutive knee arthroscopies tinder local anaesthesia was undertaken, in order to evaluate the effectiveness, patient satisf action and acceptability of the procedure. Knee arthroscopy was perfor med without a thigh tourniquet tinder low volume (20 ml) local anaesth esia using half the recommended safe dose of anaesthetic agents, as a single intra-articular injection together with skin infiltration of th e arthroscopic portals. The diagnostic accuracy and effectiveness of t he procedure was similar to that of surgery tinder general anaesthesia . Sixty-two lesions were diagnosed and 48 surgical procedures were suc cessfully carried out in 53 patients. All but one of the questioned pa tients (97 per cent) were satisfied with the procedure which caused li ttle or no discomfort in 94 per cent of cases. It is concluded that kn ee arthroscopy under local anaesthesia may be considered as a reliable , well tolerated and safe alternative to conventional procedures.