Each year, an estimated 4 million people in the United States seek medical attention for shoulder injuries. Sporting activities that involve repetitive stress, such as from tennis or baseball, or falls, such as during skiing, put many at risk for shoulder injuries.
The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles and their tendons that surround the shoulder to allow multidirectional shoulder movement, and is particularly susceptible to injury.
The incidence of rotator cuff tears is known to increase dramatically each decade of life after the age of 50. Patients with these injuries often will have chronic pain and weakness of the arm.
Every year nearly 300,000 people undergo surgical repair of the rotator cuff. The vast majority of these surgeries are performed by conventional open surgical techniques that may require an incision up to 6 inches along with detachment of one of the major muscles.
Less-invasive arthroscopic rotator cuff repair has shown promise as an alternative to open surgery, resulting in shorter hospital stays, earlier rehabilitation and less scar tissue than open surgery.
Thanks to a series of groundbreaking biomedical innovations, we have pioneered a system that helps simplify minimally invasive, totally arthroscopic rotator cuff repair while aiming to match the outcomes of open procedures.
Working with Southern California-based Opus Medical, the AutoCuff System was developed and is now being used to repair torn rotator cuffs at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic Denver. This newly launched, FDA-approved, technology enables surgeons to perform rotator cuff repair without open surgery or knot-tying of any kind.
Rotator cuff injuries are prevalent because, as we age, structures such as the rotator cuff become more susceptible to injury. In the past, these problems have often gone untreated because the patient was reluctant to undergo a major painful operation. As arthroscopic repairs become more common, individuals should not have to live with chronic pain.
More than 20,000 procedures have been performed using this technology. The results have been extremely encouraging with reduction of early post-operative pain and good long-term functional results.
Dr. Schlegel is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, a team physician for the Broncos and a founding partner at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic Denver. For more information, go to www.shcdenver.com.
