<aside>

Research

</aside>

<aside>

Find Your Team

Arthrofibrosis Experts

Surgeon Checklist

Insurance

</aside>

<aside>

Get Treatment

Diagnosis

Cytokine Panel Blood Test

Medications

Surgery Prep

</aside>

Arthrofibrosis surgery is the intersection of medicine and art. Your doctor needs to have the experience to carefully and gently identify aberrant scar, address it, and leave non-symptomatic scar alone. - Injured Athlete’s Toolbox

The practices of an experienced arthrofibrosis surgeon are:

🩸 No use of a tourniquet during surgery unless absolutely necessary. Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) is a powerful driver of fibrosis and the use of a tourniquet (or not) during surgery as standard practice is likely to be an important difference between surgeons. However, a tourniquet may sometimes be necessary, for example, during a TKR.
🔥 Use of a cautery tool to release scar tissue. “Releasing” scar tissue not “removing” it with very little use of the arthroscopic shaver, preferring the use of a cautery tool to release scar tissue and prevent bleeding.
- Shaver Tool
- Cauterizing Tool
💎 Preservation of the fat pad. Cutting the fat pad strongly promotes further fibrosis.
💊 Liberal use of local pain anesthetics to ensure adequate post-op pain control.

Unfortunately, surgery is frequently the initiating event that leads to arthrofibrosis. We therefore have a cautionary approach to surgery (and manipulation under anaesthesia) as a treatment for arthrofibrosis, and believe that it should not be the first treatment approach. Surgery and MUA always involve some bleeding, hypoxia, inflammation and wound healing, and all of these are powerful fibrotic stimuli. These procedures therefore carry the real risk of permanently worsening symptoms due to the reactivation of wound healing processes and inflammation.

<aside> ➡️ Find Arthrofibrosis Experts here

</aside>

Source:

Surgery | International Arthrofibrosis Association