Presenting in Kaohsiung
Dr Wu Kang, a former ASRI fellow, presented at the Academic Congress of the Asian Shoulder and Elbow Association in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, held from 2 to 5 October 2024.
About the congress
The Asian Shoulder and Elbow Association brings together surgeons across the Asian region who concentrate on the shoulder and the elbow, and its Academic Congress is the meeting at which members present research and discuss technique with one another. Former fellows presenting the group's work at international meetings is a normal part of how a fellowship programme continues to function once the fellowship year itself has ended: the collaborations formed during the year tend to outlast it, and the research begun in Brisbane is often finished and presented from elsewhere.
What a joint replacement registry is
A registry records the joint replacements performed across a whole country: which implant was used in each case, and whether and when it later needed to be revised. Because it captures procedures nationally rather than within a single unit, it can show differences between implants, and between groups of patients, that an individual practice would never have the numbers to detect. A stemless anatomic replacement resurfaces the worn ball and socket and leaves the patient's own rotator cuff doing the work of moving the shoulder, while a reverse replacement alters the mechanics of the joint so that the deltoid takes that work on instead. Both are used for arthritis, and which is appropriate depends in large part on the state of the cuff. Individual results vary.
The presentations
The first covered the group's work on clinical outcomes following complete release of the long head of the triceps during reverse shoulder arthroplasty, including how the release is performed safely.
The second discussed a published paper using Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry data, comparing the use of stemless anatomic replacement against reverse shoulder arthroplasty in patients under 55 with primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis. The choice of implant in younger patients is an area where registry data is particularly valuable, because the numbers involved in any single practice are too small to draw conclusions from.
Related information
- Our post on shoulder replacement in patients under 55
- Dr Christopher Child presenting at the same congress
- Our shoulder arthritis page
- Our shoulder fellowship page