[The importance of arthroscopy for hand surgery today].

Wrist arthroscopy is a new approach to the diagnosis and treatment of chronic wrist pain and pathology, that could not be achieved by conventional diagnostic instruments. The arthroscopy allows detailed assessment to articular surfaces, chronic synovitis, triangular fibro-cartilage tears, lesions of the intercarpal and palmar ligaments, and intraarticular fractures of the radius. The technique is very demanding and should be performed only by experienced surgeons. The dorsal portals are located with relation to the six extensor compartments. Because of the limited space of the wrist joint, an arthroscope with an outermost diameter of 2.5 mm or less is necessary with a high-sensitivity, light-weight microchip video-camera and special mini-instrument. With this equipment, surgery can be performed within the radio-carpal- and midcarpal joint. Only few in Germany are experienced in wrist arthroscopy; looking to the USA, this technique has already shown its great potential.