Office arthroscopy of the shoulder. A diagnostic alternative.

Office arthroscopy of the shoulder is a technically demanding procedure and is significantly more challenging than office arthroscopy of the knee. With the proper equipment and in the hands of an experienced shoulder arthroscopist, the procedure offers many advantages. Patients unanimously prefer office arthroscopy to MR imaging because of the ability to view their pathology personally in a medium more palatable and understandable than MR imaging. Office arthroscopy appears to be a safe, accurate, and cost-effective alternative to MR imaging for the diagnosis of shoulder pathology in select patients.