Common Shoulder Injuries That Can Be Treated With Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery

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When one experiences pain in the shoulders, simple activities become hard tasks to accomplish. Simple things like reaching out to a high place, putting on clothes, lifting a baby, or sleeping comfortably could be hard and painful to do. Shoulder pain is something that most people neglect since they expect it to heal by itself. However, it has been noticed that unattended shoulder pains worsen over time.

Fortunately, with the help of advanced orthopedic medicine, there are now several non-invasive treatments, such as Arthroscopic shoulder surgery, that have been proven to be very effective in treating various shoulder conditions. This blog gives patients an insight into various common Injuries that can be treated with arthroscopic shoulder surgery, along with the advantages of the surgery and the steps involved in the same.

Anatomy of The Shoulder Joint Pain​

In order to see the benefits that keyhole surgery could have for someone as a patient, it is important to first look at why the shoulders are prone to injuries. The shoulder is one of the most complicated ball-and-socket joints in the body, and it is one that has the greatest range of mobility in the human body.

The upper end of the humerus rests in a very shallow socket in the scapula. This means that a great deal of the mobility and stability of the shoulder comes from the muscles, tendons, and cartilage that make up this complicated machine, and when anything goes wrong with this, the whole arm suffers.

Common Injuries That Can Be Treated With Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery​

If conventional treatment methods fail to cure the joint, then minimally invasive surgery becomes the best course of action for the patient. Here follows an elaboration of the most prevalent shoulder problems that can be corrected surgically in the most innovative manner.

1. Rotator Cuff Tears​

The rotator cuff is made up of four specific muscles and tendons that surround the ball of the joint to secure the arm and make it move and lift. The tearing of the rotator cuff happens suddenly during heavy lifting, or it develops slowly as a result of overusing the shoulder during activities such as painting or tennis.

After the tear takes place, there is usually a severe, dull pain felt inside the shoulder, and it is even more pronounced when attempting to sleep on the affected shoulder. These are the types of injuries that can be treated with arthroscopic shoulder surgery, in which an orthopedic surgeon will insert the arthroscope into the area where there is a tear to examine the frayed or torn tendon on a high-definition monitor.

2. Labral Tears (SLAP and Bankart Lesions)​

The socket of the shoulder joint contains an elastic layer of tissue called the labrum. As the name suggests, it forms a ring that lines the cup and serves as a protective bumper and helps deepen the socket in order to prevent the humerus from sliding out of the joint. A sudden injury, dislocation, or stretching of the arm usually causes a labral tear.

There are two commonly observed types of labral tears:

• SLAP Tears: Superior Labrum Anterior and Posterior is the type of tear that appears on the upper edge of the socket where the biceps tendon attaches to the cartilage. People with SLAP tears typically feel a clicking, popping, or grinding sound in the shoulder when moving their arm over the head.
• Bankart Lesions: This kind of tear is formed on the bottom edge of the socket as a result of complete shoulder dislocation. With the help of keyhole surgery, a doctor can accurately repair the labrum and attach it back to the rim of the bone.

3. Impingement Syndrome and Bursitis​

The rotator cuff tendons have to travel through a small tunnel in the bone of the shoulder joint whenever the arm is lifted. When the bone spurs develop or the bursa, which are cushions that exist naturally within the joints, are heavily inflamed, this tunnel gets narrower. The tendons get stuck, pinched, and compressed during normal activities.

This causes extreme pain when the person tries to move their arms behind the body or to put on a jacket. These injuries can be treated with arthroscopic shoulder surgery through a procedure called subacromial decompression. The surgeon enters the joint space and removes the inflamed bursa and shaves off the bone spurs.

4. Chronic Shoulder Instability​

In cases where the shoulder becomes dislocated, the ligaments securing the shoulder joint become either stretched or torn. When these ligaments fail to heal properly, the shoulder joint stays loose. This results in chronic shoulder instability, which is a rather scary disease where one may partially dislocate their arm from the shoulder joint while performing basic activities, such as throwing a ball or raising a hand in class. Arthroscopic stabilization allows the surgeon to tighten the loose joint capsule. In this way, they repair the stretched ligaments, giving the patient their confidence and stability back.

5. Frozen Shoulder (Adhesive Capsulitis)​

A frozen shoulder is a painful condition in which the thick capsule of connective tissue that surrounds the joint becomes very inflamed and constricted. The formation of scar tissue bands restricts the movement of the joint in all possible directions.

Though most frozen shoulders resolve themselves, there are some patients who suffer from severe and immovable stiffness that stops them for months and even years. In case the shoulder joint stays stiff, then arthroscopic capsular release is needed. In this procedure, the surgeon makes incisions into the constricted joint and removes scar tissue.

Overview of Common Injuries That Can Be Treated With Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery​

The table below summarizes the most common injuries that can be treated with arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

Shoulder Injury​	Common Symptoms​	Arthroscopic Treatment​
Rotator Cuff Tear	Pain, weakness, limited motion	Tendon repair
Shoulder Impingement	Pain when lifting the arm	Bone spur removal and tissue trimming
Labral Tear	Clicking, instability, pain	Labrum repair
Shoulder Instability	Repeated dislocations	Ligament and labrum repair
Frozen Shoulder	Severe stiffness	Capsular release
SLAP Tear	Pain during overhead movement	Labrum repair
Shoulder Bursitis	Swelling and inflammation	Bursa removal
Bone Spurs	Pain and reduced movement	Spur removal

Reclaiming An Active Life​

Being in a situation where you have shoulder injuries is like living in a world where all movements are limited due to pain and restrictions. Patients cannot enjoy the fun activities, sleep properly, or even live independently because of pain in the shoulder area. However, Modern orthopedic medicine makes arthroscopic shoulder surgery possible, which is a harmless and effective treatment of the internal damage without the necessity of an open surgery recovery period.

Identifying the particular problem and fixing it with minimal invasions and tiny cuts helps people recover much faster from injuries and get back into their normal lifestyle. Therefore, if the pain influences someone's life and prevents them from enjoying it, then contacting a professional orthopedist would be the right decision to make. Finding out the cause of the pain and discussing the structural injuries that can be treated with arthroscopic shoulder surgery will help patients say goodbye to pain and welcome an active and unrestricted life.