CHENNAI: Four months after a reconstructive surgery altering her right shoulder’s design, Heyam, a 58-year-old from Saudi Arabia, is slowly returning to normal life. “You would have read about cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar flying to South Africa for shoulder surgeries. But it’s not just sports and trauma even factors like age, posture and arthritis can lead to this,” said Dr Clington J Fernando, Arthoplasty and Arthoscopic specialist at Apollo Spectra, who performed the surgery. “IT company employees who work out of a computer without resting their arms, are very much prone to this too,” he added.
The surgery did not just involve repairing but reconstruction of two parts of the shoulder - the bone socket and the ball of the shoulder. This essentially meant redesigning the shoulder, turning socket portion into shoulder ball and vice versa surgically.
“After the first two surgeries failed, I never thought I could use my arm,” said Hayem demonstrating the flexibility of her arm.
While the rotator-cuff of her right shoulder caused prolonged pain due to degeneration, her diabetic condition damaged the muscle tissues of her arm further. But the reconstructive surgery has made her use her arm. Hayem is the first patient in the city to undergo the process, largely seen as a last-resort owing to the risk involved.