Knee arthroscopy surgery at Spire Edinburgh Hospitals Murrayfield and Shawfair Park

At Spire Edinburgh Hospitals, our team of orthopaedic (bone and muscle) surgeons can offer you a treatment and care plan that's personal to you and your needs. Our nurses and physiotherapists will provide expert aftercare to help you live life to the fullest.

We offer fast access to diagnostic tests and scans and easy booking with appointment times to suit you. So you don’t have to wait long to find out if treatment is right for you.

Getting here

Spire Murrayfield is an approximate 20 minute drive east from Edinburgh Airport or 10 minutes west from Haymarket train station.

Spire Shawfair Park is to the south east of Edinburgh city centre, conveniently located close to the City Bypass and the Royal Infirmary.

Both hospitals have free parking for you and your visitors.

Your consultations

For your appointments, you’ll meet your consultant in one of our consultation rooms.

If you haven’t been diagnosed yet, your consultant will do the following before a knee arthroscopy:

• Ask about your medical history
• They may recommend using our advanced scanning, imaging and diagnostic technologies to look at your knee to help understand the cause of your pain or mobility issues

You’ll have an opportunity to discuss your needs and expectations from your surgery. Your consultant can then outline a treatment and care plan that’s tailored to you.

On the day of your knee arthroscopy, you’ll meet your orthopaedic consultant again and your anaesthetist. If you’ve come with a friend or family member, they’re welcome to wait in our lounge while you have your operation.

Your anaesthetist or consultant will give you one of the following:

• A general anaesthetic, which means you’re asleep
• An epidural (spinal) anaesthetic is when you can’t feel anything below your waist
• A local anaesthetic so you can’t feel your knee

Once ready, your consultant will make tiny incisions and pass a small telescopic instrument into your knee. This is called an arthroscope and has a camera so your consultant can see inside your knee to do any of the following:

• Investigate your knee to find a cause of your pain or other symptoms
• Repair damage to soft tissues
• Remove loose bone fragments or scar tissue
• Take tissue samples if there’s inflammation

Exactly what happens during your procedure will depend on your symptoms or condition. Your consultant will let you know if they recommend further treatment following an investigative knee arthroscopy.

After your procedure, you may go home on the same day or the following day, depending on the time of your surgery and whether you had any treatment.

Although there’s less pain after an arthroscopy than with traditional surgery, you’re likely to feel discomfort once the anaesthetic wears off. How long this lasts will depend on:

• The cause of your knee pain
• Whether you had any treatment during the procedure
• If you have an ongoing knee disease or injury needing further treatment
• Your personal pain threshold

But don’t worry, you’ll be given painkillers to help you manage over the following days. Your physiotherapist will also give you an exercise plan to help you get active again, plus a guide to how long your recovery will take.

Your consultant may also explain to you what’s been found and whether they recommend further treatment.

Although everybody’s different and you should always follow your consultant’s advice, here’s a typical recovery timeline for knee arthroscopy: