Insufflation

Written by Dr Sheila Strover on March 14, 2025

Insufflation is a technique to distend the space within the knee capsule in order to break down early adhesions and restore range of motion.

Pre-arthroscopy capsular insufflation

Fluid is introduced into the knee before any arthroscopic or keyhole procedure, but insufflation implies that the irrigation fluid is under increased pressure in a sticky knee, with a view to actually stretching the capsule of the knee, breaking some of the adhesions and allowing the surgeon to access the back of the knee with the keyhole instruments.

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