Arthroscopic surgery versus arthrotomy?

The principles of arthrotomy and arthroscopy are similar, as both procedures aim at diagnosing and treating joint pathologies. However, arthroscopy offers several advantages that may improve diagnostic accuracy, in addition to being a minimally invasive procedure. Arthrotomy has been regarded as the standard for several procedures such cranial cruciate ligament repair and meniscal treatments, correction of medial patellar luxation, reduction of hip luxation, stabilization of shoulder instability, removal of fragmented coronoid process among others. Arthrotomy has been many surgeons’ first choice because of the shorter learning curve than arthroscopy and direct visualization of the anatomical landmarks. In addition, dogs and cats have small joints that may not allow having the same arthroscopic working space as with an arthrotomy. However, with the evolution of instrumentation and techniques, there has been a shift from open to arthroscopic procedures with satisfactory outcomes. Decreased postoperative pain, faster recovery, and better diagnostic accuracy of arthroscopy has led many surgeons to prefer an arthroscopic approach for several procedures such as treatment of elbow dysplasia, cranial cruciate rupture, meniscal injury, should instability among others. However, despite the popularity of these procedures, there remains a considerable amount of controversy over the selection of these techniques.  [...]