Surgical instrument with rotatably mounted offset endoscope

A surgical endoscopic instrument for operating on anatomical tissue includes a rigid barrel, a shaft extending through the barrel and an offset endoscope mounted on the shaft. The endoscope is offset from the longitudinal axis of the shaft by a transverse connecting member, thereby permitting the endoscope viewing end to move through an arcuate path outside the diametrical dimension of the barrel. During insertion of the instrument through a portal or the like, the offset endoscope can be positioned within a diametrical dimension of the surgical instrument, either by rotating the shaft or by drawing the shaft and the endoscope viewing end into the barrel in an axial manner. The offset endoscope may be aimed to provide an oblique field of view of a surgical procedure and may include an articulable ball joint having a solid state imaging sensor and light source; the ball joint imaging sensor aim is preferably articulable or controllable from the instrument proximal end using control members (e.g., wires) connected to handle-mounted control wheels. In an alternative embodiment, the offset endoscope has a fixed objective lens carried on the distal end of a rigid tubular body carried on a transverse connecting member. The fixed objective lens is preferably angled to aim along the transverse offset axis and generally toward the endoscopic instrument axis, to provide an oblique field of view of other surgical instruments used in other channels.