Humeral head necrosis
( Osteonecrosis )
X-ray of a humeral head necrosis
Here you can read:
What is a humeral head necrosis ?
Signs and symptoms of a humeral head necrosis ?
How does a humeral head necrosis develop ?
How to treat a humeral head necrosis ?
What is a humeral head necrosis ?
Ina humeral head necrosis of the shoulder the bone of the humeral head becomes necrotic, which means that it is dead.
Signs and symptoms of a humeral head necrosis ?
Nearly all patients with a humeral head necrosis are suffering from shoulder pain. As the necrosis progresses shoulder pain becomes more intensive. The patient feels his pain in the shoulder or sometimes it is radiating into the upper arm. Pain at night occurs quite frequently and due to relieving posture the shoulder might get stiff. In an advanced stage, when the bony surface of the “ball” is broken, a cracking in the shoulder joint can be felt and pain can be very intensive, even at night.
How does a humeral head necrosis develop ?
Until today, we don´t know the exact mechanism how a humeral
head necrosis develops. These necrosis are called idiopathic or primary. If
blood vessels are torn / ruptured due to a shoulder trauma, the situation
is clear. But this is an exception. Most of the necrosis are idiopathic /
primary humeral head necrosis. Some factors like alcohol abuse, corticosteroid
long time or high dose medication, metabolic disorders and so on, are associated
with a humeral head necrosis.
The latest theory assumes that there might be a disorder of the blood clotting
in patients with humeral head necrosis.
How to treat a humeral head necrosis ?
If a humeral head necrosis is recognized in an early stage
it can be decompressed. That means, placing a drill hole in a minimal invasive
procedure, high pressure inside the bone is eliminated, so that the bone can
heal.
In an advanced stage of the disease, when bony structures are destroyed the
implantation of a shoulder prosthesis is the method of choice. Quite often
younger patients are affected by such a humeral head necrosis. Shoulder prostheses
have a survival rate of about 10 to 15 years. Whenever possible special shoulder
prostheses are used in these patients, that can be implanted in a minimal
invasive procedure and changed more easily, when loosening starts after one
to two decades.
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Other themes & sites arround the shoulder:
Diseases of the shoulder ( german ): http://www.schulterinfo.de , http://www.schulter.info
Diseases of the shoulder ( english ): http://www.shoulderinformation.com
Shoulder arthroplasty: http://www.schulterprothesen.net , http://www.schulterprothesen.com , http://www.shoulderprosthesis.com , http://www.prothesenatlas.de
Frozen shoulder ( german ): http://www.schultersteife.de
Shoulder specialists ( german ): http://www.schulterspezialisten.de
Shoulder examination ( german ): http://www.schulteruntersuchung.de
Shoulder videos ( german ): http://www.schultervideo.de