A Medical multidisciplinary team of King Khalid Hospital (KKH), an affiliate of King Saud University (KSU), has conducted a rare operation, the first of its kind in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. Dr. Abdulaziz bin Suleiman Al-Aheidib, Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon and a specialist in shoulder surgery as well as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, KSU, said that the operation was performed on a 83 year-old Saudi female patient who was suffering from pains in the right shoulder for several years with inability to lift the shoulder or use it in daily activities, noting that clinical examination ,X-rays and MRI showed a severe friction in the shoulder joint as a result of a tear in Rotator Cuff muscles. The Reverse ® total shoulder replacement used in the operation has been designed by Dr. Mark A. Frankle, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Florida Orthopaedic Institute, Tampa, Florida, who uses implants and instrumentation in shoulder replacement. The entire process was conducted by using Regional anesthesia and that the patient is now, after process of rehabilitation, able to use her shoulder in daily activities but she is still in a period of rehabilitation and physiotherapy.
