About Shoulder Surgeries
The shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint. The end of the upper arm bone (the humeral head) forms the ball, while part of the shoulder blade (the glenoid) forms the socket. Shoulder replacement surgery replaces the ball and sometimes the socket with man-made parts. There are several types of shoulder replacement surgery
An open fracture, in which a bone breaks through the skin, usually requires surgery to reposition the bone, fix bone fragments into place, and close the wound. Doctors also recommend surgery for displaced fractures, in which the pieces of a broken bone separate from each other but remain beneath the skin.
A doctor may also recommend surgery if a fracture limits joint function—for example, if a fracture in the elbow prevents the joint from extending fully—or if a bone fracture results in damage to soft tissues such as tendons, ligaments, nerves, or blood vessels.
Our Surgical Approach
When serious injuries such as open fractures occur, immediate surgery may be required at NYU Langone. For less severe fractures, or if the injury causes significant swelling or bleeding, surgery may be scheduled later to allow bleeding and swelling to lessen.
Your surgeon decides on the most appropriate surgical procedure for your shoulder or elbow based on extent of the injury, what type of accident occurred, how much of the joint was affected, and whether any blood vessels, nerves, tendons, or ligaments were damaged.
Open Reduction and Fixation
NYU Langone surgeons perform open reduction and internal fixation using regional or general anesthesia. This procedure is used to set a broken shoulder or elbow bone and stabilize the bone fragments so they can heal.
In the elbow, open reduction and fixation may be performed for a fractured distal humerus, the upper arm bone, or olecranon, the bony tip of the elbow. Fractures of the radial head or scapula usually don't require surgery, but if a fracture interferes with joint function or breaks the skin, doctors may need to operate.
