Arthroscopic technique for the knee in morbidly obese patients

Patients with morbid obesity present an additional surgical difficulty for routine knee arthroscopy. Accurate portal placement in these patients is of utmost importance in order to achieve adequate access to the surgical pathology. To facilitate portal placement, we changed our standard surgical technique, establishing operative portals under direct arthroscopic visualization. We present our technique in this article as an option in the approach to treating these patients.