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Diagnosis and treatment

Common shoulder conditions

  • Frozen shoulder - a condition leading to pain and stiffness of the shoulder
  • Rotator cuff impingement and tears
  • Shoulder instability and recurrent dislocations
  • Acromioclavicular joint injury, dislocation and arthritis
  • Osteoarthritis - a condition causing joints to become painful and stiff
  • SLAP (superior labrum anterior to posterior) tears
  • Rheumatoid arthritis - a long term condition causing pain, stiffness and swelling in the joints
  • Winging scapula
  • Snapping scapula
  • Fractures - this could be the clavicle, humerus or scapula.

Common procedures

  • Rotator cuff surgery - arthroscopic subacromial decompression and rotator cuff repair
  • Frozen shoulder surgery - arthroscopic release and manipulation under anaesthesia (MUA) of frozen shoulder
  • Instability surgery - arthroscopic or open stabilisation
  • Arthritis surgery - including surface replacement, stemmed replacement and reverse geometry replacement
  • SLAP tear surgery - arthroscopic repair of a SLAP tear
  • Acromioclavicular joint surgery - reconstruction and arthroscopic or open excision
  • Long head of biceps surgery - arthroscopic biceps tenotomy and arthroscopic or open biceps tenodesis
  • Muscle transfers
  • Fracture surgery - plate fixation, intramedullary nailing, non-union surgery, joint replacement surgery

How long will I be in hospital after surgery?

Most of our patients have day case surgery and go home on the same day. Some patients will stay in hospital overnight after surgery. Other operations such as a joint replacement may need a longer recovery in hospital. Our average length of stay after a shoulder replacement is three days.

A dedicated anaesthetist specialising in shoulder surgery will be in charge of your anaesthetic. Shoulder surgery is often performed under general anaesthetic, with the addition of a local anaesthetic nerve block to relieve discomfort afterwards.