In the News – Dr. Kohrs Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

In a recent feature on Cincinnati Local 12 News, Dr. Brandon Kohrs, an Orthopedic Surgeon at Ohio’s Orthocincy, provided an informative overview of a procedure known as Reverse Shoulder Replacement or Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty. This surgery can be a beneficial choice for patients experiencing severe shoulder pain, advanced arthritis, or potentially irreparable rotator cuff injuries.

Transcript

Cincinnati 12 News: Dr. Brandon Kohrs of Ohio’s Orthocincy, is an Orthopedic Surgeon, who says this procedure is commonly performed in those who have shoulder pain, bad arthritis or rotator cuff injuries that can’t be repaired. Once the incision in the front of the shoulder is made…

Dr. Kohrs: You go down, you go between a couple of the muscles and go down to the bone you resect part of the humeral head.

Cincinnati 12 News: Once Dr. Kohrs reaches the socket, as this animation shows, he replaces the joint with the InSet™ Reverse Shoulder System.

Dr. Kohrs: It’s called a Reverse Shoulder Replacement because you actually switch what you’re doing there. You actually put the ball where the socket used to be and the socket where the ball used to be. What that does is it actually constrains and almost turns the shoulder into a hip joint in a way and stabilizes everything, allowing your big deltoid muscle out here to be able to lift your arm appropriately.

Cincinnati 12 News: What he explained so simply, however, takes a bit of jostling. Then as we look on medical photojournalist James Harrison, and I get to see the exact moment we’ve been waiting for. Watch this! In a patient that could not get his hand above his shoulder.

Dr. Kohrs: Now hopefully, he is going to be able to lift his arm again where it wasn’t able to before, so hopefully it lifts it up to about there.

Cincinnati 12 News: Full range of motion. What could be better than that for immediate results? The biggest risks of any surgery of course infection and healing complication. Dr. Kohrs says usually within about two weeks, patients can start to get back to regular activity.