Your shoulder is the most flexible joint in your body. It stands to reason then, that it is also vulnerable to injury and degenerative conditions. If your shoulder pain has become severe, and a conservative path of nonsurgical treatment has not resolved your problem, you may be in need of a total shoulder replacement. This is most likely if you suffer with osteoarthritis of the shoulder, rheumatoid arthritis, or have severely injured your shoulder. Our team of shoulder specialists, aided by recent imaging studies or perhaps even a shoulder arthroscopy, will accurately diagnose your shoulder problem and will discuss what you can expect from an outpatient total shoulder replacement.
Outpatient total shoulder replacement at Greater Dayton Surgery Center
First used only to treat severe shoulder fractures, shoulder joint replacement has come to be used for treating other painful shoulder conditions, such as arthritis. Although less common than hip or knee replacement, it is just as successful in relieving joint pain. As with our other outpatient joint replacements, the experienced orthopaedic surgeons at Greater Dayton Surgery Center favor a conservative approach to treating your shoulder pain, beginning with rest, medicines or injections, and physical therapy, before progressing to surgery.
There are several conditions which may lead you to require a total shoulder replacement, among them are:
- Severe shoulder fracture
- Failed previous shoulder surgery
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Post-traumatic arthritis (following a serious shoulder injury)
In shoulder replacement surgery, your orthopaedic surgeon may elect to replace just the head of your humerus bone, with a metal ball and stem, or replace both the ball and the glenoid, the latter with a plastic socket.
Reverse total shoulder replacement at Greater Dayton Surgery Center
Thousands of successful conventional shoulder replacements are performed annually in the United States. However, if you have a large rotator cuff tear and have developed arthritis, conventional shoulder replacement may result in pain and limited motion. In this case a reverse total shoulder replacement is a better option for you. In a reverse shoulder replacement, the metal ball is fixed to the glenoid (the socket) and the plastic cup is fixed to the upper end of your humerus.
For patients with this complex type of arthritis, known as “cuff tear arthritis,” a reverse shoulder replacement works better because it uses different muscles to move your arm. Instead of the rotator cuff muscles, the reverse total shoulder replacement relies on the deltoid muscle to power and position your arm.
Other conditions that may warrant a reverse total shoulder replacement include:
- A chronic shoulder dislocation
- A tumor of the shoulder joint
- A complex fracture of the shoulder joint
- A previous shoulder replacement that was not successful
Our orthopaedic shoulder specialists have over 100 years of combined experience! If you have persistent shoulder pain, call us at 937.535.2200.