Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement
Americans undergo approximately 67,000 shoulder replacement surgeries per year. One type of specialty procedure is reverse total shoulder replacement, also known as reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA). In a nationwide study, reverse shoulder arthroplasty accounted for 42 percent of all primary shoulder arthroplasty procedures in 2011.
University Orthopaedic Associate’s Dr. James T. Monica is specially trained in this procedure. He is a board certified orthopaedic surgeon with dual fellowship training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Shoulder and Elbow Fellowship and Hand Surgery Fellowship, as well as open and arthroscopic shoulder surgery. His shoulder fellowship was largely dedicated to joint replacement surgery, including reverse total shoulder arthroplasty.
Q: What type of patient is best served by reverse total shoulder replacement?
Typically, this surgery is for older patients with a combination of arthritis and a large rotator cuff tear that isn’t repairable. These are degenerative tears that often go unevaluated and untreated, so by the time the patient gets to me the tear is so large and has been there so long that the muscle no longer functions. Over time, arthritis develops from the joint not working properly due to the nonfunctioning rotator cuff. Also indicated for this procedure are older people with severe proximal humerus fractures, which are common fractures of the shoulder in older people.