FARMINGTON – Franklin Memorial Hospital saw its first reverse shoulder replacement surgery two weeks ago, a procedure that offers new hope to patients with certain shoulder conditions.
Dr. Joseph Noonan, Jr., MD, an orthopedic surgeon who provides patient care at Franklin Health Orthopaedics and Franklin Memorial Hospital through a specialty service partnership with MaineGeneral Orthopaedics, recently performed the procedure, a first for the Farmington hospital.
The procedure, which Noonan had performed before coming to Maine, can be used to mitigate patients with failed rotator cuffs, severe shoulder arthritis, or seniors with significant pain and little to no movement in the shoulder.
In a conventional shoulder replacement, the implant device mimics the normal anatomy of the shoulder: a plastic “cup” is fitted into the shoulder socket, and a metal “ball” is attached to the top of the upper arm bone (humerus). In a reverse total shoulder replacement, the socket and metal ball are switched. The metal ball is fixed to the socket and the plastic cup is fixed to the upper end of the humerus. Instead of relying on the rotator cuff muscles to power and position the arm, the reverse total shoulder replacement relies on the deltoid muscle, thereby providing the patient with the ability to raise their hand over the head once again. The reverse shoulder arthroplasty is a more technical and complicated operation to perform.
“This was truly a collaborative effort to prepare and train our operating room staff for this exciting new procedure. This included surgical technicians, nurses, Dr. Joseph Caldwell as first assist, myself and many others working together to ensure that this patient’s surgical experience was exceptional,” said Noonan. “I look forward to performing more cases of this type of surgery, which provides outstanding results and high patient satisfaction.”
The patient-centered surgical team at Franklin Memorial Hospital uses advanced surgical procedures and pain management techniques to reduce recovery time, pain, and risk of complications so patients can quickly return to normal activities. Dr. Noonan stated that his patient would undergo about three months of physical therapy.
Noonan’s interest in orthopedics includes treatment of the shoulder and elbow, sport medicine, and general orthopedic care. After medical school he completed a shoulder and elbow surgical fellowship at WB Carrell Memorial Clinic in Dallas, and a sports medicine fellowship at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Franklin Health Orthopaedics is located on the second floor of the Franklin Health Medical Arts Center, located on the Franklin Memorial Hospital campus. For appointments, call 778-9001.
Good job.
The people of Franklin County are truly fortunate to have a physician of this caliber at Franklin Memorial Hospital. I have found he and his staff to be courteous, caring and professional. Congratulations Joe!
Let’s not forget the great Anesthesia care:-)
And let’s not forget the folks who plowed the parking lot…
(Hey Doc Renaud,, The anesthesia care was mentioned as part of the team already. :) ).
C’mon Man.!
I recently had Dr. Noonan fix my knee after a different doctor from a different practice told me there was nothing that could be done. I am now 95% pain free! Dr Noonan is a HUGE asset to this area…let’s do everything we can to keep him!
Dr. Noonan is indeed an outstanding addition to FMH. He is so knowledgeable and his staff are wonderful. In addition, he generously reaches out to work with other doctors, physical therapists, and support staff and praises them as well as the patient for all their efforts. When I first met with him 9 months ago I was in pain and couldn’t move my shoulder at all after an accident. Thanks to his diagnosis and coordination of care, I am now pain free and have full range of motion – without surgery!