Medically Reviewed by Patrick K. Denton, MD

Minimally-invasive shoulder surgery, also called shoulder arthroscopy, is a procedure that has revolutionized the way surgeons make repairs to a wide variety of shoulder injuries. Dr. Pat Denton shares the latest information on long-term surgical solutions that can help alleviate pain.

“As an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, I’ve seen plenty of shoulder injuries. The most common conditions seen are rotator cuff injuries or rotator cuff tears. While some of these injuries can be treated non-operatively with physical therapy and injections, others are treated by performing a minimally invasive, arthroscopic shoulder surgery. This surgery is performed as an outpatient procedure, with patients going home within an hour after surgery and usually starting physical therapy a week or so later.

Shoulder replacement surgery is another procedure that we do frequently at McLeod. Patients who receive shoulder replacements most likely are in their fifties or older, suffering from severe arthritis or rotator cuff arthropathy. Rotator cuff arthropathy is a rotator cuff tear that has been neglected for a long time and has gotten to a point where it is not repairable. Both arthritis in the shoulder and rotator cuff arthropathy can be repaired with an outpatient procedure called reverse shoulder replacement.

Another procedure we do is superior capsule reconstruction. This is for the patient who has a non-repairable rotator cuff tear but is not old enough yet for shoulder replacement. For these patients, we rebuild the rotator cuff using cadaver tissue.

Following any surgery, a patient has to be an active participant in physical therapy, which is just as important as the procedure. We are all a team, the surgeon, the patient, and the physical therapist. We all work together to achieve the best outcomes.

I encourage patients with shoulder pain to get it evaluated sooner rather than later. Every day I see patients who have suffered with shoulder pain for years and kept ignoring it, and then they come to see us. At that point, some of the less invasive procedures that we could do have now been exhausted because the tears have gotten so big or progressed.”

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