Shoulder arthritis in a weight lifter - patient-reported outcome

A middle aged physically active man presented with a painful stiff left shoulder that prevented him from participating in his normal weight lifting activities. At his initial visit he could perform only half of the functions of the Simple Shoulder Test.

His preoperative radiographs are shown below

After discussion of the pros and cons of the ream and run and the total shoulder, he elected to proceed with the ream and run.

His postoperative films are shown below.

At 10 months after surgery he sent this email:

"I wanted to share with you an update.  I am now in  my tenth month post-opp.  I have added additional exercise to my lifting routine that does put more stress on my shoulder but nonetheless, I have no issues.  On an extreme, rare occasion during some of my exercise I may feel some pain, but nothing that affects my lifting or causes me to stop.  I have to say 90% of the time, I am completely pain free during and after I lift.  If I do feel any pain, it is more of annoyance than anything else.  I continue to stretch every day for 15 or 20 minutes.    Since I workout in the morning, I stretch before I lift when I first wake up.

  

As with my Week 24 Update, I am ecstatic about my outcome and what I have been able to do so far.  I plan on posting the 10 Month Post-Opp Video Update on our Face Book  page as well as my own page.  I did write up my complete story and posted on my Face Book page with my week 24 video.  That post, which is public, can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/NPapaEsq/posts/10216658636752764."

Comment: An extraordinary rehabilitation effort by a man who chose to avoid the risks and limitations of a conventional total shoulder.

For more on shoulder arthroplasty and weight training see this link.

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