Total Shoulder Replacement

>Approximately 53,000 people in the US have shoulder replacement surgery each year, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Shoulder replacement surgery may be needed to treat severe shoulder fractures and other painful conditions, such as different forms of arthritis. Joint replacement surgery is effective in relieving pain and helping you get back to enjoying an active life.

The orthopaedic surgeons at Southern Joint Replacement Institute (SJRI) in Nashville may recommend surgery if your shoulder pain and other symptoms do not respond to nonsurgical treatments.

A highly-skilled and experienced SJRI orthopaedic surgeon will remove the damaged areas of the shoulder joint and replace the bone with artificial components, called a prosthesis. Surgical options are either replacement of just the ball of the humerus bone, or replacement of both the ball and the socket.

Shoulder replacement options

Shoulder replacement surgery requires a surgical team with experience in this highly technical procedure. The orthopaedic surgical team at Southern Joint Replacement Institute has years of experience performing these different types of shoulder replacements:

• Total Shoulder Replacement. In this surgery, the surgeon typically replaces the shoulder joint surfaces with a smooth metal ball attached to a stem, and a plastic socket.
• Stemmed Hemiarthroplasty. In a traditional hemiarthroplasty, the ball of the humerus is replaced with a metal ball and stem, similar to the prosthetic used in a total shoulder replacement. Sometimes the surgeon will replace only the ball.
• Resurfacing Hemiarthroplasty. The surgeon will replace the joint surface of the humeral ball with a cap-like prosthesis to preserve the bone. No stem is used. It is a good alternative to the stemmed shoulder replacement for patients with arthritis.
• Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement. The prosthesis used in this surgery has 5 parts: the glenoid base, the glenosphere, a polyethylene cup, humeral neck, and the humeral stem. This surgical procedure is most often used for patients with severe arthritis, whose previous shoulder replacement failed, or completely torn rotator cuffs with severe arm weakness.

Your Southern Joint Replacement Institute shoulder surgeon will evaluate your condition carefully and recommend the best type of replacement surgery to help you achieve pain relief and reclaim mobility.

Our caring surgical staff is happy to answer your questions about shoulder replacement surgery and explain what type of implant will be used and why it is the right choice for you.