When is a Reverse Shoulder Replacement the Right Choice For a Rotator Cuff Injury?

Total joint arthroplasty, the replacement of deteriorating joint structures with prosthetic components, has been a 21st-century success story in restoring mobility and pain-free living to patients with arthritis, injuries, or other conditions that lead to failing natural joints. 

Shoulder replacement procedures provide dramatic results for patients with joint deterioration. It’s a solution that the shoulder pain specialists at 360 Orthopedics in Sarasota, Venice, and Lakewood Ranch, Florida, frequently recommend when joint degradation reaches advanced stages. 

The rotator cuff, a capsule of muscles and other soft tissues that support the shoulder, is often the victim of injury. When damage reaches irreparable levels, conventional shoulder replacement approaches may not be effective. 

The reverse shoulder replacement targets repairs when the rotator cuff can’t be fixed. Let’s take a closer look at this joint replacement option and when it’s the right choice for you. 

Shoulder anatomy

Your natural shoulders are ball-and-socket joints, albeit of a complex and versatile nature. The ball of the joint is at the upper end of the humerus, the largest bone in the arm. This ball sits in a cup called the glenoid on the shoulder blade. 

To give your shoulder its wide range of motion, the socket is naturally shallow, so various other structures help to keep the ball of the humerus in place. Shoulder stability is one of the key roles of the rotator cuff. 

Reverse shoulder arthroplasty

The primary goal of the reverse shoulder replacement procedure is to minimize the role of the rotator cuff in shoulder movement. Instead of the ball on the arm portion of the shoulder replacement prosthetic, it’s set into the scapula to replace the glenoid. 

The prosthetic set into the humerus replaces the natural ball with an artificial socket. This maintains much of the original mobility of the natural shoulder. 

The benefits come from removing leverage force from the arm and transferring control from a nonfunctioning rotator cuff to the deltoid muscle, the thick muscle that gives the top of the shoulder its rounded shape. 

While this expands the responsibilities of the deltoid in shoulder operation, its position and power permit it to stand in as a strong substitute for the dysfunctional rotator cuff. 

When is a reverse shoulder replacement the right choice for a rotator cuff injury? 

Rotator cuff injuries aren’t always severe. Natural healing and/or medical procedures, combined with physical therapy, can often restore your shoulder to full function. 

However, multiple injuries or severe rotator cuff tears may create damage that permanently limits the flexibility or strength of the structure. People with arthritis that damages the shoulder may also have sufficient shoulder damage to preclude complete healing. 

A reverse shoulder replacement may be the right choice for you if you have problems such as: 

• A combination of arthritis and rotator cuff tears
• Failed shoulder surgeries
• Previous conventional (non-reversed) shoulder replacement
• Complex fractures of the humerus
• Severe shoulder pain, weakness, or limited range of motion

Some factors may rule out reverse shoulder replacement for you, so we develop a unique workup of your shoulder and its supporting structures before recommending a shoulder replacement solution, after we’ve exhausted all conservative treatment options. 

Contact 360 Orthopedics at the location nearest you, online, or by phone, to schedule a shoulder consultation today.