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Cairns ·8 July 2025

At Cairns Base Hospital performing a reverse total shoulder replacement

In theatre at Cairns Base Hospital performing a reverse total shoulder replacement
In theatre at Cairns Base Hospital performing a reverse total shoulder replacement

In theatre in Cairns

In theatre at Cairns Base Hospital performing a reverse total shoulder replacement, alongside Justin Sun, Orthopaedic Registrar at Cairns Hospital, and Rohit Sane, Fellow. Both are skilled and dedicated colleagues.

In theatre at Cairns Base Hospital performing a reverse total shoulder replacement

What a reverse total shoulder replacement is

In a normal shoulder, a ball at the top of the upper arm bone sits against a shallow socket on the shoulder blade, and the rotator cuff tendons hold it in place and help lift the arm. A conventional, or anatomic, shoulder replacement reproduces that arrangement, and depends on the rotator cuff being intact.

A reverse total shoulder replacement swaps the two sides. The ball is fixed to the shoulder blade and the socket to the upper arm bone. That change in geometry allows the deltoid, the large muscle over the outside of the shoulder, to lift the arm without relying on the rotator cuff. It is therefore used where the rotator cuff is torn beyond repair or no longer working, in certain fractures of the upper arm bone, in arthritis associated with cuff damage, and sometimes where a previous replacement has failed.

Choosing between the two forms of replacement depends on the condition of the tendons, the shape and bone stock of the socket, the patient's age and what the arm is needed for. Individual results vary.

Why operating in Cairns matters

Specialist shoulder surgery is concentrated in the capital cities, which means patients in regional and far north Queensland have historically had to travel for it. Operating in Cairns, and training the registrars and fellows there, is a way of reducing that gap over time rather than simply accommodating it.

Travel is not a minor inconvenience for a shoulder replacement. The operation is followed by a period of rehabilitation and several reviews, so a patient treated a long way from home either relocates for weeks or divides their care between two places. Surgery performed locally allows the follow up to be local as well.

Related information

See our reverse total shoulder replacement page, and our other posts on operating at Cairns Base Hospital. See also our anatomic total shoulder replacement, shoulder arthritis, rotator cuff tear and rehabilitation pages.