The role of arthroscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of knee joint lesions in children

A retrospective review of the first 9 years' experience with arthroscopy at the children's department of the Priorov’s Central Institute for Traumatology and Orthopedics (Moscow) was conducted. One hundred and twenty-eight arthroscopies were perforated in 125 children with knee joint lesions. The patients were followed up from 1 to 117 months. Tire most common arthroscopic finding in adolescent group was chondromalacia patellae followed by anterior cruciate ligament injury, meniscal lesions, patellar dislocations. There were many cases of synovitis and discoid meniscus in the preadolescent group. Arthroscopy proved a safe, accurate and effective tool in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood and adolescent hemarthrosis for meniscus and ACL injury, in septic arthritis, acute patellar dislocations.