Come inside the operating room with orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jacob Triplet as he performs a surgery called reverse total shoulder replacement.

“There are two types of total shoulder replacements. There’s anatomic total shoulder replacement and reverse total shoulder replacement. With an anatomic replacement the anatomy [of the ball and socket] ends up looking just like the normal anatomy. For this to be an option the rotator cuffs have to be functioning properly. If those are not working, as in this case, then [with the reverse total shoulder replacement] we switch the ball and the socket orientation. What used to be the ball will now become the plastic socket and what used to be the socket will now be a metal ball. This ultimately functions by relying on the big muscle on the outside of the shoulder called the deltoid muscle, and that accommodates any type of rotator cuff deficiency.”