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Anesthesia for Knee Arthroscopy

It is possible to do knee arthroscopy under spinal anesthesia, regional anesthesia, or even local anesthesia. However, in routine cases, Dr. Clyburn recommends a general anesthetic. Most arthroscopic candidates are young and healthy, and most of the surgeries are very brief. Thus, the risks of general anesthesia are low.

Most patients wake up very quickly and are able to go home almost immediately after surgery. With spinal or general anesthesia, it may take 30 minutes or more to perform the anesthetic, and it may not wear off for a number of hours after surgery. Patients cannot leave the hospital until the anesthetic has worn off.

For more involved surgery like ACL reconstruction, Dr. Clyburn often uses a "single shot" spinal. This is done with a long acting agent placed into the spinal canal. This allows the patient to go home, but yet the pain relief of the spinal continues for up to 24 hours.

Another technique is a pain pump. The pump may be placed directly in the knee or may be placed by the anesthesiologist into the epidural area of the spine. With this technique, the patient pushes a button which injects small amounts of medication through the pump. The patient simply pulls the tiny tube out when the medication runs out. Dr. Clyburn often injects moderately large amounts of anesthetic agents directly into the tissues about the joint, and this too is a very effective technique.