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Thermal Capsular Shift (Shrinkage) |
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Written by Andy
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Saturday, 29 September 2007 |
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Ligaments connect bones together and control how much freedom of movement exists in the joint. If the ligaments become stretched through injury the potential exists for the joint to slip. In the case of the shoulder, the possibly of subluxation or dislocation exists when the ligaments are stretched. A thermal capsular shift is a procedure to tighten the ligaments of the shoulder to reduce the instability. The procedure is done with the patient under general anesthetic or a combination of sedative and regional block. Using an arthroscope to view the ligaments, a probe is inserted into the joint. The surgeon directs the probe to the ligaments, upon contact the probe locally heats the ligament. The directed heat causes the ligament to shrink. Shrinking the ligament causes it to pull the bones of the joint together and limit any inherent instability. The heat probe works using electromagnetic energy. The molecules of the ligament are excited through vibration which in turn creates the heat. Due to this method, the heat is localized to the tip of the probe and damage to any surrounding tissues is minimized. The heat does cause damage to the ligaments themselves and so a recovery period of limited movement through use of a sling of three weeks is recommended. The success rate of the procedure is roughly 80%.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 20 December 2007 )
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