I saw a report on TV that the knee joint is kept cool during surgery by flushing it with saline. How do they take the temperature of a joint?
Surgery of this type is done by arthroscope. An arthroscope is a long, thin tool that is inserted through the skin and into the joint. Once the scope is inside the joint, other tools can be passed through the tube or cannula of the scope.
A temperature probe can be passed through the scope into the joint. The surgeon must avoid touching the tip of the probe to the synovial membrane or cartilage. The sensor must sit free in the joint fluid to get an accurate reading. It only takes a few seconds to get the temperature.
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