By: Michael Pahl, M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon, MemorialCare Joint Replacement Center, Long Beach Medical Center

About 53,000 people in the U.S. have shoulder replacement surgery each year. The shoulder is the third most frequently replaced joint after the hip and knee. Lack of range of motion and pain that affect day-to-day activities are the main reasons patients consider this operative treatment. Shoulder replacement is just as successful in relieving shoulder joint pain as it is with hip and knee replacement surgery.

The MemorialCare Joint Replacement Center at Long Beach Medical Center offers shoulder surgery for patients looking for more permanent solutions for chronic pain that affects their quality of life.

Shoulder replacement surgery is highly technical — it replaces the damaged part of your shoulder to recreate the natural contours of the bones in a healthy shoulder. Because of this, at the MemorialCare Joint Replacement Center at Long Beach Medical Center, shoulder replacement surgery is performed by an experience surgical team that embraces advanced technology, including ExactechGPS® Guided Personalized Surgery technology.

Long Beach Medical Center is the first hospital in Los Angeles County to offer ExactechGPS. ExactechGPS® is the latest advancement in technology that provides surgeons with real-time visual guidance in total shoulder surgery. This advanced platform combines surgeon expertise with a computer system, similar to a navigation device in your car, to perform your shoulder surgery with advanced accuracy and precision, allowing for simple adjustments, minimally invasive techniques and implant alignment personalized to your unique anatomy.

How ExactechGPS works:

  • The ExactechGPS Shoulder Application’s preoperative planning tool is designed to help surgeons understand their patient’s unique anatomy prior to surgery and plan the surgery through a virtual simulation.
  • Surgeons can then execute their plan in real time during the surgery based on a 3D anatomical model of the patient’s shoulder, making adjustments as needed.
  • This unique technology gives greater visibility to the shoulder anatomy, allowing for more consistent and accurate implant placement.

For many patients, while conventional shoulder replacement can go well, the operation and recovery can be difficult. Patients that undergo surgery with the ExactechGPS report that surgery goes faster, and recovery is more immediate.

If shoulder pain is limiting your quality of life or preventing you from getting healthy sleep you should consider a consult with an orthopedic surgeon to learn more about treatment options.

For more information on shoulder surgery and to find an orthopedic surgeon with experience using ExactechGPS, visit memorialcare.org/LBJointReplacement .