Knee and Shoulder Replacements

While Dr. Mall utilizes the latest techniques to help patients preserve their native joints, on occasion this is not possible. In these cases, a prosthetic joint replacement can be a great solution, reliably improving a patient's pain and function. There are a number of different prosthetic replacements available for the shoulder and the knee, including resurfacing replacements, partial replacements, and total knee or shoulder replacements. Resurfacing entails only removing a small portion of the native bone and cartilage and replacing this with a metal component that matches the curvature of the normal cartilage. Partial replacements include replacing a portion of the joint with either metal or metal and plastic and are typically referred to as a hemiarthroplasty in the shoulder or a unicondylar replacement in the knee. Total shoulder and knee replacements are performed by replacing the entire joint surface with metal and using a plastic (crosslinked polyethylene) component to articulate with the metal. Dr. Mall also performs a special type of shoulder replacement called a reverse ball and socket replacement, which is used for patients with a torn and irreparable rotator cuff. This replacement actually places the ball on the socket side and the socket on the ball side to improve the biomechanics of the shoulder and allow the deltoid muscle to substitute for the rotator cuff.

Dr. Mall specializes in treating very active individuals, and therefore is more progressive with allowing his patients to be more active on their joint replacements than some other surgeons in town. Patients are typically allowed to golf following shoulder replacements and light weight lifting is allowed as well. Many forms of exercise including running are allowed after knee replacements. We closely follow the orthopedic literature to assure that these activities are safe and have not been shown to be detrimental to your joint replacement. If there is controversy amongst authors in the literature, Dr. Mall will discuss this with you and allow you to make an educated decision about the risks involved with the activities you love.