Residents of Durham, North Carolina, and nearby communities can rely on North Carolina Orthopaedic Clinic for reverse shoulder replacement surgery. We’ve been serving this area since 2003, and we’re pleased to offer this procedure to help patients achieve relief from ongoing shoulder pain.
What Is a Reverse Shoulder Replacement?
You may be wondering what makes a reverse shoulder replacement different than a traditional shoulder replacement. It all comes down to how the prosthetic parts — the ball and the cup — are inserted. The top of your humerus (your upper arm bone) naturally fits into a socket in your scapula (your shoulder blade), forming your shoulder joint. During a standard shoulder replacement, the surgeon replaces the top of your humerus with a prosthetic ball and the opening in your scapula with a prosthetic cup, mimicking the appearance of the natural joint. During a reverse shoulder replacement, the positioning of the prostheses is switched — the surgeon replaces the top of the humerus with a prosthetic cup and the socket portion of the scapula with a prosthetic ball.
Do You Need a Reverse Shoulder Replacement?
Doctors often recommend reverse shoulder replacement surgery to patients who’ve sustained large rotator cuff tears and developed cuff tear arthropathy. This is because once you’ve undergone a traditional shoulder replacement, you’ll still need to use your rotator cuff muscles to move your arm. If your rotator cuff is irreparably damaged, you could still experience pain and limited range of motion following surgery. The positioning of prostheses in a reverse shoulder replacement, however, allows you to move your arm using your deltoid muscle.
Find Out More
If you need shoulder surgery and think that you could be a candidate for a reverse shoulder replacement, contact North Carolina Orthopaedic Clinic today. We’ll be happy to schedule a consultation at our office in Durham, NC.