Now, get your shoulder fixed with a tightrope

CHENNAI: Broken shoulder joints would normally entail a very painful surgery involving metal screws and a large incision, six months of stiff healing and then an extraction of these screws.Now, these things might just become a thing of the past with the introduction of the Acromioclavicular Tightrope implant — a device with two metal buttons with adjustable loops between them, to keep the shoulder joint in place, implanted through a key hole.“The whole notion of what happens when there is a shoulder separation or break is misguided. The AC joint is an articulation that anchors the collar bone to the highest point of the shoulder blade. When there is a heavy injury, this joint breaks and renders overhead movements almost impossible,” said Dr J Srinivasan of D’mas Joint Clinic.When the metal screws and pins are used, it takes up to six months before the implants are removed and then the healing continues.“Using this tightrope implant, the healing period is reduced to three months, with the patient being able to resume desk work in two weeks post surgery,” he added.After Srikanth (39), a resident of Madipakkam had a bike accident, he was referred to the orthopaedician who decided that this implant would be administered arthroscopically (through a key hole) so that there was minimal invasion and low scarring. “The best part about this procedure is that it is in a single stage and need not be removed. The patient was able to move his shoulder within two days,” said the doctor.While the device has been available abroad for the past five years, it entered the Indian market after June this year. This is believed to be one of the first such surgeries done in the South, according to Dr Srinivasan.The price tag of `1.5 lakh might seem steep, but when “compared to two operations in the conventional method, it actually works out to almost the same amount.”