Knee arthroscopy surgery at Spire Portsmouth Hospital

At Spire Portsmouth Hospital, we can offer you a choice of expert orthopaedic surgeons who are committed to providing high-quality treatments and care that's personalised to you. We also offer fast diagnosis and treatment without the wait in our clean, modern facilities.

At Spire Portsmouth Hospital, we have wide experience of performing knee arthroscopy in our high-quality facilities. The procedures offered to you will depend on your symptoms or condition. Some of our consultants perform microfracture – where they make small holes in your bones to stimulate cartilage growth.

We also have three laminar flow operating theatres which regulate air flow to minimise the risk of infection.

Getting here

Spire Portsmouth Hospital is situated just off the B2148, two miles from Havant town centre and station. The hospital is 10 miles from Chichester and Portsmouth. We have free on-site parking for you and your visitors.

Your consultations

For your appointments, you’ll meet your consultant in one of our 15 consultation rooms. All of our rooms are accessible, so there’s no need to worry about stairs if your knee is very painful.

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

• Discuss what may have happened to cause your symptoms (eg a sports injury or fall)
• 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

Your consultations give you an opportunity to discuss your needs and expectations from your surgery. We can then outline a treatment and care plan that’s tailored to you.

On the day

Before your procedure, you’ll meet your orthopaedic surgeon again and your anaesthetist. Depending on what you’ve agreed upon with your consultant, you’ll either have:

• A general anaesthetic so you’re asleep
• An epidural or spinal anaesthetic, when you can’t feel anything below your waist
• A local anaesthetic so you can’t feel your knee

If you’ve come with a friend or family member, they’re welcome to wait in our lounge while you have your operation.

Your procedure

• Your surgeon will make two or more small incisions into your knee then pass the arthroscope (a thin, flexible, telescopic instrument with a light and a tiny video camera on the end) into your knee joint to view it
• Any damage to cartilage or ligaments will then be repaired, loose bone fragments or scar tissue removed or tissue samples collected if there’s inflammation

After your operation, 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. Your consultant may also explain to you what’s been found and whether they recommend further 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

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.

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