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IAQs – Shoulder & Elbow Surgery

- Shoulder & Elbow Orthopaedic Surgery
IAQs

Shoulder and Elbow Orthopaedic Surgery

Please be aware that the following information is neither exhaustive, nor intended to represent or substitute medical advice. At SSRI we are aware “Dr Google” exists but do not advocate its use in place of qualified medical opinion. We strongly discourage you from attempting to self-diagnose in any way particularly by reading something on the internet. If you have ANY concerns regarding your shoulder or elbow, you should in the first instance speak with your GP who can assist you and refer you for specialist opinion as appropriate.

HAND DOMINANCE

MALES vs FEMALES

57

No.of Patients presenting with shoulder problems

DOMINANT SIDE

50

No. of Patients presenting with elbow problems

DOMINANT SIDE

60

No. of Male vs Female Patients

Presenting with SHOULDER problems

67

No. of Male vs Female patients

Presenting with ELBOW problems

Is there any relationship between hand dominance and shoulder problems?

In our experience, there does seem to be some relationship between hand dominance and shoulder problems as patients tend to present more with problems on their dominant side but the difference is not huge (57% dominant side vs 43% non-dominant side).

Is there any relationship between hand dominance and elbow problems?

In our experience, there doesn’t seem to be much of a relationship between hand dominance and elbow problems as these tend to present equally (50% non-dominant side vs 50% dominant side)

Do more males or females present with shoulder problems?

In our experience, males tend to present more with shoulder problems than females (60% vs 40%)

Do more males or females present with elbow problems?

In our experience, males tend to present more with elbow problems than females (67% vs 43%)

Shoulder & Elbow Surgeons

The private practices of Dr Cass, Dr Young and Prof Sonnabend are collectively known as “Sydney Shoulder Specialists” and more information regarding same can be found at www.sydneyshoulder.com.au.

IAQs

SPORTS INJURIES

Are sports injuries or falls the main causes of shoulder problems?

This is a difficult question to answer. A majority of patients in our database (37.5%) reported no known injury for their shoulder problems. Sport was the next most listed cause accounting for 25.5% of presentations. Falls (either from a bicycle or otherwise eg trip and fall) were noted as the third most prevalent cause accounting for 16.1% of presentations. 10.7% were attributed to “other” accidents, 7.8% to work, 2.4% to motor bike accidents and car accidents.

It is important, however, to bear in mind two things. First, the distribution of injury cause would look significantly different if you surveyed the emergency or outpatient clinics of a public hospital and second, the true cause of injury may have been sport, work, fall or repetitive injury etc. but this has either been forgotten or ignored because symptoms did not appear immediately.

The injury causes and percentages reported relate to shoulder problems that present to our surgeons in their private rooms.

Are sports injuries or falls the main causes of elbow problems?

Again, this is a difficult question to answer. A majority of patients in our database (32.1%) reported no known injury for their current elbow problems. Sport was the next most listed cause accounting for 24.5% of presentations. Falls (either from a bicycle or otherwise eg trip and fall) were noted as the third most prevalent cause accounting for 20.8% of presentations. 11.3% were attributed to “other” accidents, 9.4% to work and 1.9% to motor bike accidents and car accidents.

Once again, it is important to bear in mind that the distribution of injury cause would look significantly different if you surveyed the emergency or outpatient clinics of a public hospital and that the true cause of injury may have been sport, work, fall or repetitive injury etc. but this either has been forgotten or ignored because symptoms did not appear immediately.

The injury causes and percentages reported relate to elbow problems that present to our surgeons in their private rooms.

It seems these days there are more shoulder injuries in sport than in the past, particularly in football, why is that?

Shoulder injuries rank number 2 in the top 10 sporting injuries (number 1 is knee injuries).

One possibility with football injuries is that there has been an increasing amount of tackling both during training and in the actual games.

What about elbow injuries, where do they sit in the top 10?

Elbow injuries rank number 4 behind ankle injuries (number 3) in the top 10 sporting injuries.

What are some of the less common or more unusual types of shoulder or elbow injuries you’ve seen?

Some of the more memorable injuries we’ve seen to shoulders and elbows include as reported to us include:

  • Hit by a cow (45 year old man)
  • Caravanning (67 year old woman)
  • Bar brawl (81 year old man)
  • Dragon boat racing (41 year old woman)
  • Yanked by a child (33 year old man)
  • Fell off Segway (63 year old woman)