Spokane surgeons carve outpatient hip-arthroscopy niche

Two doctors at Spokane-based Northwest Orthopaedic Specialists PS are performing an outpatient hip-joint repair procedure, called hip arthroscopy, here on referral patients from throughout the Northwest.

The physicians, Dr. Patrick Lynch and Dr. Russell VanderWilde, perform the procedure at the practice's Orthopaedic Surgery Center, located on the fifth floor of the Spokane Integrated Medical Plaza, at 601 W. Fifth. The orthopedic practice believes the two physicians are the only doctors in the Inland Northwest who do the outpatient procedure routinely.

Arthroscopy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure more commonly performed on knees and shoulders to assess and treat problems in those joints. Arthroscopic surgery is employed to treat torn and damaged cartilage and ligaments, to remove loose tissue, and to repair the surfaces of the joint area.

The procedure involves the use of a tiny camera on a probe that's inserted through a small incision to allow a surgeon to view and evaluate a joint without making large open incisions. Separate instruments that the surgeons select from an assortment of long probes, hooks, clamps, and suction devices also are inserted through tiny incisions to make repairs.