Orthopedics

Shoulder and Elbow Surgery

Image of orthopedic surgeon and system chair, Dr. Leesa Galatz with female shoulder patient.
Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Bradford Parsons, with female shoulder injury patient

The Mount Sinai Health System offers you comprehensive care to provide you relief when you experience pain or find it difficult to move your shoulder, arm, or elbow. Our shoulder and elbow surgeons handle the depth and breadth of this specialty, including the most complex shoulder replacements among the full spectrum of shoulder conditions and injuries, such as rotator cuff tears, frozen shoulder, and shoulder fractures.

Thanks to our orthopedic specialists who are committed to patient education, you will gain a better understanding of the cause(s) of your symptoms to help you make an informed choice about your treatment options. To ensure your best outcome, our Mount Sinai orthopedic specialists work in consultation with other specialists in internal medicine, rehabilitation, anesthesiology, social work, and pain management, coordinating your treatment before, during, and after treatment.

Your treatment options may range from non-operative therapies to minimally invasive shoulder arthroscopic techniques to the most advanced reconstructive surgical procedures, such as complex revision.

Our shoulder and elbow specialists regularly perform the following procedures, including:

Trends by Age

Using the most advanced orthopedic techniques to restore function and eliminate pain due to shoulder, arm, and elbow issues, we provide individualized care, whether your condition stems from injury or overuse.

In general, each age range tends to have specific issues:

  • 25- to 40-year-olds. Rotator cuff injuries and too-loose or unstable shoulders are common, primarily from accidents or overly strenuous workouts.
  • 40- to 55-year-olds. Shoulder rotator cuff injuries become more complex, and middle-aged elbows can suffer from tendonitis or tennis elbow.
  • 55-year-olds plus. Older adults often develop shoulder arthritis and more severe rotator cuff tears. While fractures can happen at any age, fractures occur more frequently in the 55-plus age group due to osteoporosis.  If you have severe shoulder arthritis that affects everyday activities, you may benefit from shoulder replacement or reverse shoulder replacement that makes use of other muscles.

Arthroscopic Surgery

All of us use our shoulders and elbows for daily activities—reaching up to put something away in a high kitchen cabinet, and even typing on the computer keyboard. In addition to daily activity, athletes tend to move their shoulders and elbows repetitively playing sports, which can cause injury. Serious baseball players, swimmers, golfers, and players of racquet sports are especially vulnerable to shoulder and elbow injuries, and these often require surgery.

Depending on the type and extent of your injury, our shoulder and elbow surgeons will determine the most appropriate open or minimally invasive arthroscopic surgical procedures.

How arthroscopic surgery works. During minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery, our surgeon inserts a pencil-sized tube with a light and camera enclosed into a small incision near your shoulder or elbow joint. This allows us to see an image of the inside of your joint on a screen.

Benefit of arthroscopic surgery. Arthroscopic procedures offer the advantage of an easier recovery, typically with the same positive long-term results of open surgery.

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