Raise Your Hands

Pain-Free Movement Renewed Back

THE CASE

A 72-year-old male patient, a known hypertensive case for the past 40 years, diabetic and CLL for past 15 & 12 years respectively, suffering from multiple myeloma for which he was on chemotherapy, was brought to the casualty after a fall on his right side from a chair following a seizure attack episode. The patient was admitted to the ICU and was diagnosed with a Hyponatremia induced seizure. The patient had a history of fall on his left side 3 weeks before this incident and was having difficulty moving his left shoulder since then. He was on conservative treatment for the same. Fresh X-ray and CT of the left shoulder joint was done which revealed a comminuted four-part fracture of the left proximal humerus.

THE PROCEDURE

Initially, the plan was to fix the four-part fracture with either plate and screws or a Hemiarthroplasty. But this time a new technology was adopted – Just Unic. In Just Unic fixation, humeral staples are used to hold the head pieces and then connected to a proper-sized humeral shaft implant. With special jack-up forceps, the stem level was adjusted to restore the humeral head height. Extra sutures for greater and lesser tuberosity were taken, which gave good stability for the hold of the fracture segments and resulted in the whole procedure going well.

THE RESULT

Six weeks after the correction, the patient achieved pain-free full range of motion as shown in the photograph. He is able to move his hands freely again without any discomfort and is very happy with the result.

Dr. Suresh Bhoja Shetty
Consultant
Orthopaedics & Joint
Replacement
Nanavati Super Speciality
Hospital, Mumbai