Trauma is a bad thing, isn’t it? That’s common knowledge, even to those who know nothing about medicine. Psychological trauma can lead to a whole host of problems. For example, most have heard of post-traumatic stress disorder. If a person is scared enough to have psychological disorders, they have been “traumatized”. When someone suffers a physical injury, there is trauma to some structure, be it bone, soft tissue or skin.

Clearly, trauma is a bad thing. The body reacts to trauma in various ways, with inflammation being a general term for the body’s primary response to physical injury. This is a natural process which can lead to healing of damaged tissues or aid in the defense against bacteria and invading organisms. But inflammation can also last too long and various problems, and pain, can result. Modern medicine has developed a great variety of ways to reduce the amount of inflammation and to minimize the length of time the process continues.

So, what is inflammation? When inflammation occurs, chemicals from the body’s white blood cells are released into the blood or affected tissues to protect your body from foreign substances. This release of chemicals increases the blood flow to the area of injury, and usually results in redness and warmth. Other effects of inflammation can include swelling, pain, stiffness, and a loss of joint function.

Who hasn’t used ibuprofen at some point? This is the most common of a large group of medications called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID’s), and, as stated, their benefits are the result of their actions on the process of inflammation. Cortisone is another example of a medication in widespread use, largely because of its effects on this natural bodily process. Various devices have been invented to reduce the consequences of inflammation, like therapeutic ultrasound, electric stimulation, hydrotherapy, and many others. Clearly, medicine recognizes that, although it’s normal, inflammation can be a bad thing.

Some forms of trauma are planned and intentional. Why would one intentionally allow themselves to be subjected to the pain and limitations of inflammation? To achieve some specific goal, some task, inside the body. It’s called surgery, a component of modern medical care that is essential to maintaining health and well-being. From removing an abnormal mass, to excision of a diseased appendix, to straightening a bent toe, surgical techniques have come a long way from the days before aseptic technique, and the use of a shot of whiskey as the anesthetic of choice.

One of the latest developments is the performance of various surgical procedures through extremely small incisions. The term most commonly assigned to this concept is minimally invasive surgery (MIS). The idea is to cause as little trauma to the tissues between the exterior of the body and the target tissue, whatever it may be, while achieving the goal of the surgery. With traditional “open” surgery, all those structures are cut to expose the target. This typically produces a significant amount of trauma, and we now know where that leads you: inflammation. But what if the goal of the procedure, whatever it may be, could be achieved while greatly reducing the amount of damage caused to the tissues found between the surgeon and the area of pathology.

Many new technological developments have allowed MIS, from specialized, tiny cameras placed at the end of long tubes, to fluoroscopic imaging. The former device allows the surgeon to see inside a joint, so that they might visualize all manner of problem. This type of procedure is called arthroscopy, and, as is typical of minimally invasive surgical procedures, entails greatly reduced recovery time, along with less pain, less chance of infection, and many other benefits.

The latter device produces real-time x-ray images, like a movie camera that shows only bone and metal, thus allowing the surgeon to visualize every move they make with their