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A shoulder replacement is a procedure that tries to eliminate the source of pain and dysfunction by replacing damaged parts of the shoulder joint with artificial components called prostheses. The most common reasons for a shoulder replacement surgery are osteoarthritis, rotator cuff tear arthropathy, avascular necrosis or rheumatoid arthritis. The procedure is meant to relieve your pain, improve your strength, increase your range of motion and enable you to use your shoulder and arm.
Types of shoulder replacements
- Hemiarthroplasty: In this procedure only the ball and stem are replaced. The stem is connected to the ball and articulated with your natural socket.
- Resurfacing Hemiarthroplasty: This involves replacing the joint surface of the humeral head with a cap-like prosthesis, without a stem.
- Anatomic Total Shoulder Replacement: The arthritic joint is replaced with a highly polished metal ball attached to a stem on the humeral side, and a plastic cup on the glenoid socket.
- Stemless Total Shoulder Arthroplasty: This is a bone-preserving version of the total shoulder arthroplasty where the metallic ball is attached to the upper arm without a stem.
- Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement: In the reverse total shoulder replacement, the joint is literally reversed meaning the metal ball is placed where the glenoid socket was and a plastic cup is attached to the stem and is moved to the upper arm bone (humerus).
Surgery Technique
After general anesthesia and regional block, we position the patient in beach chair position. We give a small incision between the deltoid muscle and pectoralis muscle. Through this approach we remove the damaged part of the joint and replace it with new shoulder joint. We generally give a sling post operatively for few days.
Post-Operative Recovery
The recovery period varies from person to person and also depend on the type of surgery you had. Typically, you should use your arm for waist-level activities on day one following surgery. You should dress and feed yourself within the first week. Be careful with driving.
