You May Be A Candidate For Total Shoulder Replacement Surgery If You Have:
- End-stage arthritic disease which affects your quality of life.
- Have failed non-surgical treatment options.
You May Not Be A Candidate For Total Shoulder Replacement Surgery If You:
- Smoke.
- Use significant narcotic pain medications.
- Have uncontrolled diabetes.
Risks of Surgery:
While risk of complications following surgery are low, it is important to understand that they can occur:
- Infection
- Blood Clot
- Nerve or Blood Vessel Damage
- Limited Range of Motion
- Dislocation
- Fracture
How To Reduce Your Surgical Risk:
Quit Smoking
Smoking increases your risk of surgical complications like delayed wound healing, and infection. These complications may require extra medications, or additional surgery to correct.
Manage Diabetes
Diabetes that remains uncontrolled increases your risk of the wound not healing, or infection. Before surgery, you should work with your primary care doctor and am to have a hemoglobin A1C under 7.5.
Maintain a Healthy Diet
Eating a diet rich in protein can improve skin and tissue recovery. Foods like eggs, nuts, chicken, or fish, can decrease your risk of post-surgical infection. In some cases, if blood protein levels are too low before surgery, we may ask you to drink protein shakes or supplements before and after your surgery.
Stop Narcotic Medications
Long-term narcotic pain medication use before surgery increases your risk of chronic pain after surgery. If you take these medications, there is a chance you will have significantly more pain during the first 2-4 weeks after the procedure. Additionally, pre-surgical narcotic use can increase your risk of requiring more surgery later on.
