Shoulder Repair:
When Conventional Isn't An Option
Orthopedic surgeons on staff at Ingalls successfully performed the revolutionary reverse shoulder prosthesis procedure on a 66-year-old Dolton woman - with excellent results.
The procedure is designed for individuals with severe shoulder weakness and pain that have exhausted all other means of treatment. It was performed on Patricia Huizenga by Mark Nikkel, D.O., and Carl DiLella, D.O., and was the first of its kind at Ingalls and in the area.
Every year, thousands of shoulder replacements are performed in the United States. The main causes are arthritis combined with a rotator cuff tear, or a minor stand-alone tear.
For these patients, standard shoulder replacement surgery works well.
"With a massive rotator cuff tear, the rotator cuff loses most of its function, making conventional repair nearly impossible," Dr. Nikkel explained.
The reverse shoulder prosthesis makes better use of the large triangular deltoid muscle covering the shoulder joint, which is responsible for motions to the front, side and back - and a specially designed prosthesis for patients with nonfunctional rotator cuffs and arthritis, but who still have a functioning deltoid muscle.
Patient Experiences Pain Relief
Huizenga broke her left arm in three places last fall at a local bowling alley when she stumbled over someone's misplaced bowling bag. After the broken bone healed, Huizenga found that she couldn't lift her arm any higher than hip level.
"Just raising my arm was painful enough that I didn't want to have to deal with this the rest of my life," she explains.
On a friend's advice, she sought a second opinion with Dr. Nikkel.
"I told him I wanted to be able to live without pain," she remembers. "He recommended the reverse shoulder procedure. I had a lot of confidence in him, so I had the procedure done at Ingalls in late spring."
Following surgery and several weeks of physical therapy, Huizenga's range of motion dramatically improved, and the nagging shoulder pain vanished.
"When a person gets to this stage of shoulder weakness and pain, changes must be made in the actual mechanics, or workings, of the shoulder," Dr. Nikkel explains. "This is a breakthrough procedure for patients whose severe shoulder damage has left them without any other options. After surgery, most patients report that their pain is significantly less and in some cases, completely gone."
Patients also report a drastic difference in their range of mobility and their ability to perform daily activities, such as eating, drinking or combing their hair.
"I can lift my arm to shoulder height, and the only soreness that I've experienced is the muscle soreness from physical therapy," she added.
An avid bowler who missed an entire season from her injury, Huizenga looks forward to re-joining her bowling league this fall.
Reverse shoulder replacement was approved by the FDA in 2004, but doctors in Europe have used it for the past 20 years. The procedure itself typically takes three hours and requires a two-day hospital stay, followed by three months of physical therapy.
For more information, call Ingalls Care Connection at 1.800.221.2199.
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