肩肘關節的病變是臨床上常見的問題，尤其是從事投擲運動的運動員。微創手術是指傷口小，對組織的破壞少，病患術後較不疼痛，可以較早開始復健，以期獲得較好的結果的手術。但是這樣的術式也因為傷口小，手術視野小，增加了手術的困難度。所以有其一定的適應症，並非所有手術均適用，並且醫師的學習時程變長。關節鏡手術是符合微創手術的精神的術式。近年來因器械的進步，關節鏡手術的應用越來越廣，尤其在運動醫學方面。在肩肘關節病變的治療方面，關節鏡的應用也相當廣泛。

The problems of shoulder or elbow joint are very common clinically, especially in those throwing athletes. The so called minimally invasive surgery are the procedures which are performed through small skin incision in order to reduce damage to the human tissue. The patients will feel less pain after the surgery and the rehabilitation can be started sooner and better results can be expected. However, the surgical field would be limited through the smaller incision. This would increase the difficulty of the surgery. Therefore it is not suitable for all kinds of surgeries. The indication of minimally invasive surgery is limited. Moreover, the learning curve of the doctor is also longer. The arthroscopic surgeries are typical minimally invasive surgery. Due to improvement in the instruments, the application of the arthroscopic surgery expands a lot recently, especially in the sports medicine. It is also used widely in the treatment of problems of shoulder and elbow.