Page 1 - JANET ARTHROSCOPY AND BREAKTHROUGH IMAGING

== Cleveland clinic

Florida

Shoulder injuries treated with arthroscopy heal

faster with less pain

and upper extremity surgery. "Today, my patients
return to their preferred activities quickly."
Instead of a large incision circumventing the
shoulder, Dr. Evans uses an arthroscope, a pencil-
sized instrument with a tiny camera at the tip, to
examine and repair the tissues in the joint. Recovery
is quicker and less painful when compared to an
open procedure.
Using arthroscopy also minimizes swelling
and allows patients to begin their post-operative
rehabilitation sooner. In the last few years, other
innovations have made the recovery process easier,
including surgical improvements and better post-
ctperative pain management.
According tc) Dr. Evans, sutures today use new
New surgical techniques and better pain materials that do not require intra~operative knots.
management enable easier recovery. Remember Overall, the procedures are less abrasive to the
Operafron, that electronic board game in which one tissue. New, long-acting pain medications used
wayward movement causes other body parts to following surgery last for 72 to 96 hours. Often
spasm and a loud buzzer to sound? patients need little or no pain medication aftBr their
Just like in the board game, an injured rotator initial recovery due to the new techniques.
cuff can wreak havoc with other body parts -and A painful shoulder condition or injury can
everyday actMties like writing and eating -because impede writing, eating, dressing, hair brushing and
it's the rotator cuff that allows us to lift and rotate other activities ctf daily living. With newer techniques
the arm. The rotator cuff is composed Of four and appropriate rehabilitation, arthroscopic surgery
muscles plus attached tendons and other tissue in can fully restore movement in the shoulder.
"Prior to arthroscopy, rotator cuff repair required
the shoulder, lt holds the arm in the joint and helps
attach the humerus (long bone in the upper arm) to months of post-operative rehabilitation and many
the elbow, neck and torso. patients avoided the surgery," said Dr. Evans, who
Rotator cuff tendons can tear from age, overuse, sees patients in West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie,
traumatic injury or a fall. When it is injured, even Stuart, Palm City and Hobe Sound. "Using
reaching for a book can be painful, and a tennis arthroscopy, we can help our patients return to a
match or golf outing would be nearly impossible. fuller life without constant pain."
Understandably, shoijlder injuries used to be
among the most dreaded by weekend warriors and
professional athletes alike. In fact, a rotator cuff
iniury was often a career-ending incident in sports.
"Shoulder patients can experience much quicker
recovery and much less pain using the arthroscopic
techniques develctped in recent years," said Peter
J. Evans, MD, PhD, chair of the Orthopaedic &
Rheumatologic Institute in Florida and orthopaedic
surgeon with subspecialty training in shoulder, hand