Definition

A medical procedure that allows doctors to look inside a joint using a small camera, often to diagnose or treat problems.

Example

The doctor recommended an arthroscopy to better understand the knee injury.

Conversation

I heard you had to get an arthroscopy on your knee last week.

Yeah, it was a bit scary, but it turned out fine.

What did they actually do during the arthroscopy?

They just examined the joint and cleaned up some things that were bothering me.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Arthroscopy is formed from "arthro-" (from Greek "arthron", meaning joint) and "-scopy" (from Greek "skopein", meaning to look or examine). The word refers to the examination of a joint using a camera or instrument.

Memory Tip

Think of 'arthro-' as relating to a 'joint' and '-scopy' as 'looking' — so arthroscopy means looking into a joint.

Visually Confused Words