What Can I Expect After a Shoulder Replacement?

One of the most common questions for patients considering a shoulder replacement is "What can I expect?" This is a great question, as people should know what they are getting into before considering a shoulder replacement. There are two parts to this.

Understanding the surgery and recovery

The first part is understanding the surgery itself and the recovery period. These are things like what the surgery entails, the number of days in the hospital, when you can shower, how long before you can drive, and how long it takes to heal.

In my practice at Oregon Shoulder Institute, I believe that all patients should know these answers before having surgery of any kind. We cover these items in clinic and also provide detailed information about commonly asked questions so that people know exactly what to expect.

Understanding the expected results

The second part is understanding the expected results and being comfortable with your surgeon. Multiple studies have shown that outcomes after surgery vary by the surgeon and the facility. Generally speaking, a surgeon who does more of one procedure is more likely to be good at it, and therefore results are typically better with higher surgeon volume.

We have taken our analysis one step further than volume and looked at our results of shoulder replacement as it pertains to infection rates, pain scores, and how it feels to the patient.

Infection rate

One of the biggest fears after joint replacement is infection. Studies report an infection rate of 1-4% after shoulder replacement. Our infection rate, however, is less than 1% — fewer than 1 in 100 patients.

Pain scores

We also look at the function of our patients. One way to evaluate this is pain scores. On average our patients report 6.6 out of 10 pain prior to surgery, and at 1 year after surgery their pain is 1.5 out of 10. This is a big difference.

How the shoulder compares to normal

We also ask patients how their shoulder compares to normal. That is called a SANE score, or SSV, and is a validated questionnaire for the shoulder. Our patients report that their shoulder is 28% of normal prior to surgery. One year after shoulder replacement, they report that it is 84% of normal on average.