Reverse shoulder replacement

Reverse shoulder replacement is a procedure specifically designed for a combination of rotator cuff tear and shoulder arthritis. In such patients, a total shoulder replacement does not work.

The rotator cuff tear is a group of muscles that stabilize the shoulder during lifting. When these are torn, pain is felt. The rotator cuff tendons can be repaired but sometimes are not amenable to repair. Such shoulders go on to develop shoulder arthritis.

These patients with arthritis should be suffering from shoulder pain and should have exhausted all other measures.

A total shoulder replacement is one in which the ball of the shoulder joint on the arm bone is reconstructed with a metal prosthesis with a ball at its end. The socket on the shoulder blade side is also reconstructed with a plastic socket.

In a reverse shoulder this configuration is reversed. The ball gets transposed to the shoulder blade side and the socket is re positioned on the end of the arm bone.

The chief advantage of this reconstruction is that it relies on the stability of the Deltoid muscle and can do away with the missing rotator cuff muscles.
Reverse shoulder prostheses are now available in India.  
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