Shoulder Arthroscopy

Few areas in orthopaedics have witnessed the type of exponential growth that has characterized the current field of arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Certainly a debt of gratitude is owed the early pioneers (both open and arthroscopic), whose pas sion and skill fostered today's phenomenon. Rapid advances in imaging, electronic communication, instrumentation, and implant technology, have "suddenly" per mitted arthroscopic access to problems once exclusively the province of the open surgeon. Pioneering work by Lanny Johnson, Dick Caspari, Harv Ellman (and oth ers) further facilitated the application of these emerging technologies into a prac tical and useful new skill set. Today, with few exceptions, most shoulders re quiring surgical intervention can be thoroughly assessed, and in many cases, definitively treated arthroscopically. Yet, and perhaps a consequence of the rather rapid evolution of these tech niques, few single-source references are available for either the "would be" shoul der arthroscopist or the experienced clinician looking to hone his/her arthroscopic skills about the shoulder. The purpose of this text is to address this deficiency and provide the orthopaedic and arthroscopic community with a single definitive "how to" technical reference on operative shoulder arthroscopy. In keeping with this initiative, our goal was to assemble a group of authors who themselves were responsible for developing the techniques described, learning firsthand how "they do it. " We are indebted to these contributors for their time and effort, and be lieve they have provided a wealth of valuable information that will enhance our technical understanding.