Patient/caregiver was instructed regarding complications involved with shoulder replacement surgery as follows:
Complications are relatively rare with total shoulder replacement unlike other joint replacements, but can include:
- Emboli formation: The blood clot or thrombus formed in the deep veins of the limb, if it were small enough, can travel up along the veins in the limb and get deposited in various body parts. These blood clots freely traveling in the blood to get deposited in various body parts, such as, lungs, heart, and brain are called emboli. Deposition of the blood clot in the lung can result in sudden onset of chest pain, extreme shortness of breath, and dry cough. Deposition of the blood clot in the heart can result in an episode of heart attack with sudden onset of chest pain and extreme shortness of breath. Deposition of the blood clot in the brain can obstruct blood flow to different vital parts of brain resulting in an episode of stroke, with weakness or paralysis of one side of body, facial drooping on one side, and impaired speech. Observing compliance with therapy recommendations and intake of prescribed blood thinner medications, if any, can help prevent clot formation, DVT, and embolism. Keep a close watch for any above-mentioned signs and symptoms of embolus formation and report to the physician at the earliest for management measures to prevent further complications.
- Infection: Some individuals could present with infection at the surgical site during the initial few weeks post shoulder replacement surgery. Individuals can present with fever, foul smelling drainage from the surgical site, progressively increasing pain at the surgical site, and swelling of the joint. Your surgeon can thoroughly wash the joint, prescribe IV antibiotics for 4 – 6 weeks, and draw weekly labs to monitor the response to the antibiotic. This measure could help clear the infection and avoid further extensive measures. In case the infection is not cleared with this initial measure or the individual presents with infection of the prosthetic joint at a later time, your surgeon could employ more extensive measures for infection control. Your surgeon could get the prosthetic out of the joint, thoroughly wash the joint to clear the infection, and do a temporary shoulder replacement using bone cement loaded with antibiotic. The antibiotic gets released out of the bone cement slowly to kill the infection in the joint. Your surgeon could place you on IV antibiotics also concurrently to accomplish the goals for infection control. Weekly labs could be drawn to monitor the response to antibiotic. Once the infection is cleared, your surgeon could perform the final surgery to put the prosthetic parts back in the joint.
