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Vertical Humeral Osteotomy for Revision of Well-Fixed Humeral Components: Case Report and Operative Technique
Am J Orthop. 2009 February;38(2):67-71
Author and Disclosure Information
Geoffrey S. Van Thiel, MD, MBA, Dana Piasecki, MD, and Gregory Nicholson, MD
Dr. Van Thiel is Resident, and Dr. Piasecki is Sports Medicine Fellow, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Nicholson is with Division of Shoulder and Elbow, Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, and is Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois.
The increase in the number of shoulder arthroplasties has also created a paradoxical increase in the number of revision procedures. These revision surgeries can be complicated by well-fixed humeral components that require removal. In this article, we report a representative revision arthroplasty that involved a novel technique, vertical humeral osteotomy, which allowed for safe and effective humeral stem extraction with no need for distal windows, no proximal bone loss, and no need for a long-stemmed prosthesis.