Shoulder Surgeon Perth | shoulder arthroscopy
Shoulder Arthroscopy
Keyhole shoulder surgery
shoulder arthroscopy | shoulder surgeon Perth
Shoulder Arthroscopy
So you’ve been told you need a Shoulder Arthroscopy, but what does that mean? When you’re having orthopaedic surgery, there’s a lot of medical jargon to wade through, and it can be overwhelming. Let’s have a look at precisely what’s involved.
shoulder arthroscopy | shoulder surgeon Perth
What is a Shoulder Arthroscopy?
Shoulder Arthroscopy is a procedure that orthopaedic surgeons use to inspect, diagnose, and repair problems inside your shoulder joint. They use a small camera, called an arthroscope, and surgical instruments to examine and repair the tissues in and around the shoulder.
All this is done by making small incisions in your skin. This takes away the need to make larger cuts for more invasive open surgery.
shoulder arthroscopy | shoulder surgeon Perth
Shoulder Arthroscopy as a treatment option
Dr Colvin may recommend Shoulder Arthroscopy if you have a painful condition that isn’t responding to non-surgical treatment. Generally, non-surgical treatments include rest, physiotherapy, and medications or injections to reduce inflammation in the shoulder joint.
Inflammation is one of the ways our body reacts to injury or disease. In an injured shoulder joint, inflammation causes swelling, pain and stiffness.
Shoulder arthroscopy may relieve painful symptoms associated with damage to the rotator cuff tendons, labrum, articular cartilage, and other soft tissues around the joint. It’s commonly used in the following procedures:
- Removal of an inflamed shoulder bursitis.
- Bone spur removal, called acromioplasty.
- Rotator cuff repair.
- Repair of a torn labrum.
- Reconstruction for shoulder dislocation.
shoulder arthroscopy | shoulder surgeon Perth
CO.RE Exercises
In the field of shoulder and knee reconstruction, successful outcomes from an operation are 50% surgery and 50% rehabilitation. You could say the surgery is the easy bit, the rehabilitation is all hard slog.
Dr Colvin’s CO.RE exercise programs are just that, a core plan for your successful recovery.
shoulder arthroscopy | shoulder surgeon Perth
What happens during Shoulder Arthroscopy?
Initially, a small cut approximately one centimetre long is made for the arthroscope to be inserted into your shoulder.
Continuous fluid flows through the arthroscope to keep the view unobstructed. Images from the arthroscope are viewed on a screen, allowing Dr Colvin to see any damage or inflammation inside your shoulder joint.
Once the damage is identified, he will make further small incisions to insert instruments into the shoulder. These instruments are used to remove bursitis, shave bone spurs, perform acromioplasty, labral repair, or rotator cuff repair.
shoulder arthroscopy | shoulder surgeon Perth
What can you expect after the procedure?
Many different procedures can be performed with Shoulder Arthroscopy, but generally speaking, recovery is much quicker than with open surgery.
If you have had surgery for shoulder bursitis, acromioplasty, or bone spur removal you may not need a sling for long. Your strength will return after a short period of rehabilitation. Full recovery after shoulder arthroscopy usually takes several months, and while it can be a slow process, following Dr Colvin’s postoperative rehabilitation programs will put you on the road to recovery.
If you want to book an appointment with your orthopaedic surgeon in Perth, please call 08 9489 8788 to see Dr Colvin at our practice in Subiaco.