Reverse Shoulder Replacement: A Case Study

Medical Story: Reverse Shoulder Replacement “This surgery gave me my life back,” said Elizabeth McMearty, a successful and recovered patient who received a reverse shoulder replacement on February 24, 2014. Before receiving this intense surgery, Elizabeth was unable to drive a car, brush her own hair, feed herself, dress herself, or lift her arm past 90 degrees. Elizabeth now sees herself to have a more purposeful life, without pain in her shoulder. In 2005, Elizabeth was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the joints in the body. This horrible disease “creates inflammation that causes the tissue that lines the inside of the joints to thicken, resulting …show more content…
She had a torn rotator cuff and lost all supporting muscles and ligaments in that shoulder. It was not until a small fender-bender accident in 2013 that made a Reverse Shoulder Replacement the only option to save Elizabeth’s right shoulder. Elizabeth was in sitting at a red light in the passenger seat of her ruby red Subaru Outback with her husband and daughter when an under the influence boy drove behind them and hit the back of their car. This hit caused all three of the passengers to jerk forward and suddenly stopped the restricting seat belt. Although it was nice to know the seat belts were effective, the sudden jerk and restriction caused an insult to injury to Elizabeth’s hurt shoulder. The excruciating pain was unbearable; therefore, Elizabeth consulted in her doctor and scheduled to get a Reverse Shoulder Replacement to relive the pain and discomfort in her right …show more content…
This surgery is a great treatment for patients with shoulder pain caused by arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. According to MORE Physical Therapy, Inc. (2014), “the reverse shoulder replacement does exactly as the name suggests: reverses the socket and the ball, placing the ball portion of the shoulder where the socket used to be and putting the socket where the ball or humeral head would normally be.” This technique gives patients a stabilized shoulder joint that is able to work without an undamaged rotator cuff. The artificial joint provides more stability because it creates a deeper socket that does not allow the ball from sliding up and down as the shoulder is raised (MORE Physical Therapy, Inc., 2014). The Reverse Shoulder Replacement procedure helps the shoulder function better, reduces pain, and is