What is Total Shoulder Arthroplasty?
The basic procedure is to remove the ball of the shoulder and place a metal stem that goes into the humerus or arm bone and then add a metal ball. On the socket side, a plastic piece is cemented into the socket to return this to a smooth surface. The procedure takes about 2 hours. Motion is started very early after the surgery and emphasized since a major goal of shoulder arthroplasty is to return as much range of motion as possible. The standard time in the hospital is 1 to 2 nights. Q) What about anesthesia? A) One of the truly unique features of shoulder arthroplasty at the University of Utah Orthopaedic Center is the use of a small catheter that is placed near the nerves in the neck (anesthesia). We have a unique system for placing these so it is done with a high level of accuracy and with minimal discomfort for the patient. These are connected to anesthesia that runs in slowly over a couple of days. Therefore, it is very common for arthroplasty patients to have minimal no pain ove
