Reverse shoulder surgery performed at Lakeshore

Express News Service  

09-Sept.-2010

KOCHI: South India’s first reverse shoulder surgery was performed on a patient with a crippled hand,  enabling him to live normally, six weeks after the surgery was conducted.

Lakeshore orthopaedic surgeon Dr Jacob Varghese and his team of surgeons successfully corrected a shoulder that suffered irreparable rotator cuff tear and which was previously operated with a failed surface surgery.  This was done by replacing the joint with the help of Delta reverse shoulder for the 72-year-old patient.Primary shoulder prosthesis is effective in treating various types of arthritis, but it is not equipped to meet the complex situations of damaged rotator cuff muscles that surround the shoulder areas. This plays an important role in hand movement and also maintains the alignment of the shoulder joints. In such cases, the deltoid muscle’s efficiency is optimised using a reverse shoulder replacement to make-up for the cuff muscles functioning.  

In practice for over a decade in developed regions, reverse shoulder surgery came to be performed in India only recently. This can be attributed to several reasons such as increased diagnosis of such cases, besides rising confidence and changes in perceptions among  people towards such surgeries.

The reverse shoulder surgery provides improved function and pain relief by replacing the worn-out joint surfaces with an artificial joint made of metal and plastic.

(indianexpress)