Arthroscopy of the knee in hemophilia

Arthroscopic synovectomy for chronic hemophilic arthropathy has been performed since June of 1980, giving a 4 to 8 year follow-up of eight knees. The procedure was very successful in decreasing the incidence of hemarthroses. Only one patient had a recurrence of bleeding with synovitis. Joint flexion and extension returned to the preoperative status or improved in five knees. Only one patient lost significant motion. This loss occurred secondary to postoperative complications. Although arthroscopic synovectomy proved to be effective in synovial removal and decreasing the incidence of recurrent hemarthroses, the problem of postoperative bleeding with potentially very serious sequelae must be considered a very real threat to a successful result.