After Covid pause, demand up for shoulder surgeries

New Delhi: Many people who had been delaying elective surgeries in view of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic are now queuing up at hospitals to get operated. People suffering from debilitating pain in their shoulders are also among them.
Orthopaedic surgeons in the city's private hospitals say that demand for key-hole surgeries to repair rotator cuff tear in the shoulder joint has increased by 20% to 40%.A rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that surround the shoulder joint like a cuff. It can be torn either due to trauma or age-related degeneration.
“Many of these patients could have avoided surgery if they approached a specialist in time and followed non-surgical interventions such as physiotherapy. But they didn’t, fearing they would get infected in the hospital,” Dr Deepak Chaudhary, director of arthroscopy and sports centre at BLK super-specialty hospital said. He added that any shoulder pain associated with weakness lasting for more than two to three months should not be taken lightly.
Dr J Maheshwari from Max Saket also confirmed the trend. “Rotator cuff tear is one of the commonest orthopaedic problems seen in the elderly population. It is usually related to age-related degeneration but can also be caused due to trauma. We have certainly observed an increase in footfall for surgeries in such cases,” he said.
He, however, clarified that the increase could be due to the pent up demand as many people decided to wait until the pandemic receded. Dr Maheshwari, who heads the knee and shoulder services at Max Saket, stressed on the need to remain physically active.
“Most people go for a walk or jog, which helps maintain overall physical health and strengthens the lower limbs. However, it would be better to follow a few upper limb exercises as well to keep shoulder pain and other such lifestyle problems at bay,” he added.
According to the specialists, at a time when imaging services such as MRI are readily available, patients shouldn’t be put on long-term physiotherapy and pain medications without correct diagnosis. “Earlier, most people didn’t want to get shoulder repair surgeries done until it was disabling. However, in the last few years, we have seen that people who have severe pain in shoulder caused due to rotator cuff tear or impingement syndrome want to get surgical repair done to lead an active life,” says Dr Aashish Chaudhary, director of orthopaedics at Akash Super Specialty Hospital.