Claudio's Story
Despite a busy professional life as a research scientist, Claudio Laloni, Dr. rer. nat., has always made time for the things he loves outside of work — woodworking, home improvement and, most importantly, dancing with his wife. But for decades, shoulder pain has prevented him from fully enjoying those passions.
Claudio’s Shoulder Pain Journey
The shoulder pain started when he was a teenager and progressively got worse over the years. As a young man, Claudio was told his shoulder joint hadn’t developed properly, and eventually, his range of motion became so limited that he learned to do everyday tasks with his nondominant left hand.
He learned to live with it until his family finally said it had gone on too long.
“I knew I needed to seek medical help when my wife said, ‘You’ve got to do something because it can’t go on like this,’” Claudio said. “I tried everything from exercises to physical therapy, all of which helped for a time but never actually solved the problem.”
*This real patient was compensated for the time they took to share their personal experience with the Arthrex Total Shoulder Replacement Surgery.
Shoulder Replacement: A Solution for Limited Mobility and Pain
Claudio turned to orthopedic surgeon Patric Raiss, Prof. Dr. Med. (Munich, Germany), who immediately recognized the complexity of his case.
“Claudio presented with a shoulder that was very weak, stiff, and painful,” Dr. Raiss said. “A CT scan showed serious pathology with retroversion on the glenoid side of the shoulder and he also had subluxation of the humeral head.”
That means that Claudio’s shoulder socket had worn away on the backside at a severe angle, preventing the ball of the joint from sitting properly in the socket, which ruled out anatomic shoulder replacement surgery. Instead, Dr. Raiss performed a reverse shoulder replacement using the Arthrex Univers Revers™ system.
Arthrex VIP System Customizes Surgical Plans for Improved Patient Outcomes
“The key to a successful reverse shoulder replacement is starting with the Virtual Implant Positioning™ (VIP™) system, to precisely plan the surgery ahead of time,” Dr. Raiss said. “The VIP system allows me to choose the right size implant, screws and the glenosphere [the round implant that converts the socket side of the shoulder into the ball side] and to know ahead of time which direction to place all the components for the best outcome.”
To learn more, watch our informative patient video on the benefits of the VIP System.
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Arthrex Shoulder Replacement Produces Pain-Free Results
For Claudio, the relief was immediate. “The last time I had shoulder pain was before they gave me anesthesia heading into surgery,” he said.
Within weeks of the successful shoulder replacement surgery, Claudio jumped into rehabilitation, and today, he is back to his favorite activities — pain-free.
“Just a few days ago, we went on a 2-hour paddle tour,” he said. “I haven’t had any more trouble with my shoulder at all. Even when I’m doing home improvement projects, it’s completely problem-free.” And the dancing? “My wife says I improved my dancing because I can lead much better with my right arm.”
Claudio dealt with shoulder pain, shoulder immobility, and shoulder stiffness for decades. But you don’t have to. Arthrex shoulder replacement treatment options allow less pain, more movement—and more freedom. Find a doctor near you to schedule an appointment today.
