The history of arthroscopy

The first use of the arthroscope is credited to the Japanese. Dr Kengi Takagi of Tokyo first used it in cadaveric knees (experimental work on dead bodies), as early as 1918! In 1920, he performed the first operation on the knee of a patient with tuberculosis.

World wars 1& 2 slowed down further research & development in this field, till Dr Masaki Watanabe of Tokyo revived it again, by making the prototype of the modern day arthroscope in 1951. He later developed the ability to take black & white photographs & produced the first atlas of arthroscopy in 1957. With the advent of color photography, this atlas was revised in 1969 & served as a good reference material for surgeons of that era & continues to be consulted even today.

The initial arthroscopic surgeries were limited to inspecting the joint’s interior & taking out a small portion of tissue for microscopic analysis (biopsy). Japan pioneered in the first arthroscopic surgery as well, when in 1955, a knee tumor was removed & later in 1962, a 17 year old basketball player was treated for knee injury & returned to playing in 6 weeks time.

The surgeons from America & Europe visited the Tokyo Teishin hospital to learn these techniques from Dr Watanabe. They later modified & improved upon the instruments & made arthroscopy the art & science that it is today. The biggest revolution in arthroscopy came in 1975 when an American surgeon Mc Ginty introduced a television system, which could relay the images to a TV screen or a medical grade monitor.

Arthroscopy hit Indian shores in the late 80’s & early 90’s when pioneers like Dr Anant Joshi (BCCI doctor) & several others returned back to the country after training from USA & developed their practice. In Delhi, the Central Institute of Orthopedics (Safdarjang Hospital) is credited with the earliest arthroscopic surgeries. Now Safdarjang has a busy sports medicine center & is one of the centers of excellence for learning arthroscopy. I was fortunate to be the first thesis student of the director of this institute, Dr Deepak Chaudhary. My thesis on arthroscopic ACL reconstructions was later published as a paper in the Journal of Orthopedic Surgery, Hong Kong.