Q&A

What can go wrong with shoulder surgery?

What can go wrong with shoulder surgery?

A shoulder surgery has failed when it does not achieve the expectations of the patient and the surgeon. Failure can result from stiffness, weakness, instability, pain or failure to heal, and from complications such as infection or nerve injury.

What is the success rate of shoulder surgery?

Most of the recent studies show that in the hands of surgeons who are expert in all-arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, the results are comparable to open techniques. Specifically, the best results reported for open repairs are as high as 97% success.

Is it normal for shoulder to pop after surgery?

Such cracks and clicks may be due to tears in labrum, which may snap over the other structures as the arm moves. If the labral tear is at the top of the shoulder it is called a SLAP tear. Sometimes the clicking may be due to the shoulder slipping in and out of joint.

Is shoulder surgery hard to recover from?

While recovering from arthroscopic shoulder surgery is often quicker than recovering from open surgery, it could take several weeks for your shoulder joint to heal completely. You should expect some discomfort and pain during the first week following surgery — maybe even longer.

How serious is shoulder surgery?

The complication rate following total shoulder replacement is low. Serious complications, such as shoulder-joint infection, occur in fewer than 1.9% of patients. Major medical complications, such as heart attack or stroke, occur even less frequently.

What are the symptoms of failed shoulder surgery?

Basics of failed shoulder surgery and revision shoulder surgery A shoulder surgery has failed when it does not achieve the expectations of the patient and the surgeon. Failure can result from stiffness, weakness, instability, pain or failure to heal, and from complications such as infection or nerve injury.

What happens when a shoulder replacement goes wrong?

Three of those patients decided to have the replacement removed altogether without a new replacement. Three other patients decided to live with the problems they were having with the replacement without having further surgery.

What happens when the baseplate of your shoulder fails?

Failure of the ball (baseplate) was a difficult problem to manage. Seven patients (3%) underwent surgery for baseplate failure and even after the second surgery, 3 of these patients had another failure of the baseplate. One patient had loosening of the socket and had surgery to replace the socket.

Why does my shoulder hurt after rotator cuff surgery?

The most common causes of pain after rotator cuff surgery are (1) that the shoulder is still recovering from the surgery itself and (2) the shoulder has gotten stiff due to lack of movement.

Basics of failed shoulder surgery and revision shoulder surgery A shoulder surgery has failed when it does not achieve the expectations of the patient and the surgeon. Failure can result from stiffness, weakness, instability, pain or failure to heal, and from complications such as infection or nerve injury.

What should I not do with my shoulder after surgery?

Ask the surgeon what arm movements are safe to do. DO NOT move your arm away from your body or over your head. When you sleep, raise your upper body up on pillows. DO NOT lie flat as it can hurt the shoulder more.

The most common causes of pain after rotator cuff surgery are (1) that the shoulder is still recovering from the surgery itself and (2) the shoulder has gotten stiff due to lack of movement.

What do you need to know about shoulder surgery?

You had surgery on your shoulder to repair a muscle, tendon, or cartilage tear. The surgeon may have removed damaged tissue. You will need to know how to take care of your shoulder as it heals, and how to make it stronger.