Shoulder Replacement
Shoulder replacement surgery has a lengthy history and in fact the first recorded joint replacement was for tuberculosis of the shoulder and was undertaken more than 100 years ago. Modern shoulder replacement surgery however has developed from the treatment of shoulder fractures with a joint replacement. The father of shoulder replacement surgery is Dr Charles Neer who started this in the 1960's. However numerically shoulder replacement surgery is only approximately 10% of the total number of artificial joints that are inserted. Shoulder replacement surgery is undertaken when severe pain occurs from arthritis of the shoulder that is severe enough to interfere with a patient's sleep. It is not undertaken primarily to improve the function of the shoulder as this cannot be guaranteed following any artificial joint replacement.
