Arthrotomy by Han

Arthrotomy according to Hahn Arthrotomy is a surgical operation of dissecting the knee joint to create direct access to its internal cavity. It is mainly performed for intra-articular fractures in the case of avascular necrosis of articular cartilage, complicated by hemarthrosis and the presence of synovitis. It is used extremely rarely in outpatient settings due to the difficulty of access and the high risk of complications.

The arthrotomy, sometimes erroneously called the “Hahn procedure,” was performed in 1965 by surgeon Kenneth D. Cunnigham. Later, while improving it, he and Larry M. Bell, who later described this intervention, came to the need to significantly expand the parameters of the incision. The main goal pursued by Cunnigham, Bell and their followers was to reduce the degree of edema with concomitant damage to the knee vessels. To achieve these goals, an improved arthrotomy technique was used, which, by analogy, was named after the creators of the “Cunningham-Bell operation.”