Total Shoulder Replacement

Each year, 53,000 people have shoulder replacement surgery, compared to 900,000 who have knee and hip replacements. With such a low number of shoulder replacements, few orthopedic surgeons have the experience and expertise like the team at Austin Sports Medicine. They serve the community in and around Central and South Austin, as well as Bee Cave, Cedar Park, and Pflugerville, Texas. Their experienced orthopedic surgeons specialize in total shoulder replacement surgery using advanced techniques. To learn more, call the nearest office or book an appointment online today.

When would I need a total shoulder replacement?

You may need shoulder replacement surgery, called shoulder arthroplasty, when you have ongoing pain and limited movement despite conservative treatment or when trauma or a degenerative condition causes extensive joint damage.

The conditions that cause enough damage to ultimately need a shoulder joint replacement include:

• Osteoarthritis
• Posttraumatic arthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Shoulder fractures
• Rotator cuff arthropathy
• Osteonecrosis

Osteoarthritis is the most common reason people need to replace their shoulder joint.

What happens during a total shoulder replacement?

During a total shoulder replacement, your Austin Sports Medicine provider creates a new joint, using prosthetic components to replace the ball of your upper arm (humerus) and the socket in the shoulder blade (scapula). Your new joint recreates the natural shape and structure of the original joint.

Whenever possible, your specialist performs minimally invasive joint replacement surgery. However, some patients may need more traditional surgery.

Pre-surgery planning

Before your procedure, your specialist takes a CT scan of your shoulder and downloads it to advanced software that creates a highly detailed 3D image of your joint.

They use the image to plan your surgery, anticipate potential challenges, and ensure that your prosthetics fit your natural bones. They also use the image during surgery, allowing for more precise placement of the prosthetic components.

Joint replacement surgery

Your provider removes the rounded part of your upper arm bone and implants a metal ball. Then, they remove all the damaged cartilage and bone from the socket and insert a plastic cup-shaped prosthetic piece.

In most cases, the plastic socket is cemented to the bone, while the ball has a stem that goes inside the arm bone and doesn't need cement. Instead, the stem is designed so that your natural bone grows into the prosthetic piece, holding it firmly in place.

For the final step, your surgeon places the new ball into the socket and checks to ensure you have full movement.

What happens after a total shoulder replacement?

Your hospital stay depends on your overall health, but most patients go home the same day. Each person heals at a different pace, but it takes about eight weeks to recover. In many cases, you need a few more months of rehabilitation before you regain full strength and range of motion.

However, once you recover, you can look forward to long-lasting results, as 92-95% of total shoulder replacements last 10 years or longer.

If you have ongoing shoulder pain and would like to learn more about a total shoulder replacement, call Austin Sports Medicine or book an appointment online today.