First-of-its-kind – A Unique Reverse Shoulder Replacement Surgery at KMC Hospital Attavar
Mangaluru: KMC Hospital Attavar has been the forerunner in performing various medical treatments at a very affordable cost – what adds another feather to their glory is the recent unique ‘Reverse’ Shoulder Replacement surgery performed by the Orthopedic Team headed by Dr Surendra U Kamath, Dr R A Purnachandra Tejaswi and Dr Atmananda Hegde.
Shankar (name changed) a 60-year-old electrician had complained of inability to use his right upper limb i.e, upperarm towards shoulder for over 2 years after a fall from his bike. His arm and shoulder had restricted movements and he could not perform regular day to day activities. His symptoms worsened over the last two months when he couldn’t even sleep due to severe pain. His condition was further complicated by a childhood disorder called Myaesthenia Gravis, a systemic disorder that leads to easy fatigue and weakness of his voluntary muscles of the body. The investigations indicated that he had Rotator cuff arthropathy – a condition where his Rotator cuff muscle was weak leading to shoulder joint Arthritis. Post the surgery the patient was put on a sling for 2 weeks after which gradual exercises were introduced and the patient is pain-free at present and gradually regaining his lost arm/shoulder motion.
Dr Surendra U Kamath, Head of Orthopedics Department, KMC Hospital Mangaluru stated that “A rotator cuff arthropathy is a condition where the rotator cuff muscles become weak and fatty deposit near the joint degenerates leading to retraction of the tendon with Gleno-Humeral joint Arthritis; the conditionrequires a surgery called reverse shoulder replacement.
He further added, “In a healthy shoulder, the “ball” of the humerus is held in the shoulder socket by several muscles and tendons, including the rotator cuff tendon. Without normal function of the rotator cuff, the humeral head may move upward out of the glenoid socket and it is then difficult or impossible to raise the arm up. If a conventional joint replacement is used in this situation, though there may be some pain relief the humeral head usually remains upward out of the socket and elevation of the arm is impossible. The Reverse Shoulder Replacement changes the orientation of the shoulder so that the normal socket (glenoid) now is replaced with an artificial ball, and the normal ball (humeral head) is replaced with an implant that has a socket into which the artificial ball rests. This type of design completely changes the mechanics of the shoulder and enables the artificial joint to function when the rotator cuff is either absent or when there is a significant bone loss.”
Speaking on the occasion Dr Anand Venugopal Medical Superintendent, said, “The case was challenging and complicated as this is a unique case that was performed for the first time in Coastal Karnataka. KMC Hospital has a team of dedicated Surgeons specialized in Arthroscopic Surgery (Key Hole Surgery), Shoulder, Hip and Knee Arthroscopic surgery. Some of the regular problems like Frozen Shoulder, Shoulder Dislocations, Rotator cuff tears, Shoulder pain in young people playing sports etc can be treated by the experts at KMC Hospital in conservative methods and by Key Hole surgery.”