Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Justin was just 17 years old when he was diagnosed with chondrolysis of his right shoulder. The condition occurs when the cartilage in the shoulder joint wears away causing bone to rub against bone. For more than a year, Justin suffered from such incredible pain that he was not able to use his right arm for even small tasks of everyday life, like combing his hair or putting on a shirt. The pain even kept him awake at night. But even more disappointing, Justin wasn’t able to compete as a swimmer, something he had participated in and trained for since he was just 7 years old.

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Shoulder surgery may be the only hope for Chicago Cubs pitcher Angel Guzman to get back into the game. A recent MRI revealed that the right-handed pitcher had a severe tear in a ligament in his shoulder near his armpit. Despite the finding, he says he is seeking a second opinion from renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews to determine if surgery is preferable to a more conservative treatment. “It’s gong to be tough,” he told MLB.com. “By doing (the surgery), I have a small chance (of playing in the major leagues), but there is a chance.”

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Michael Johnson says neither he nor his doctor would have agreed to have a pain pump devices implanted into his shoulder joint during two arthroscopic surgeries if he knew that by doing so it would result in a full shoulder joint replacement. Johnson contends that the manufacturers of the medical device knew that the pain pumps were unreasonably and dangerously defective, and yet they did nothing to warn him or his surgeon about the risks associated with using it. Furthermore, he claims, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifically prohibited the marketing of pain pump devices with anesthetics to be placed in the joint cavity.

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A growing number of young patients have been developing arthritis in their shoulders after routine outpatient arthroscopic surgery, causing surgeons to question what could be causing the debilitating condition in otherwise healthy individuals.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is notifying health care professionals of reports of a serious and destructive cartilage condition known as chondrolysis in patients who have had shoulder surgery during which they received continuously infused local anesthetics to deaden pain. The anesthetics were delivered via pain pumps, balloon-like devices that hold medication outside the body and have a catheter that delivers pain medication directly into the shoulder joint for up to 72 hours following surgery.

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Dr. David S. Bailie, an orthopedic surgeon in Scottsdale, Ariz., says he’s lost hours of sleep over a rare joint condition he started seeing far too often in his patients who had had arthroscopic shoulder surgery. “There’s nothing worse than a surgeon doing something that causes a problem, not fixes a problem,” he told the New York Times.

Since 2005, Dr. Bailie says he has seen dozens of patients come to him months after surgery with worsening pain and limited mobility. The diagnosis was chondrolysis, a condition in which the cartilage in the shoulder joint wears away leaving bone to rub against bone. There is no cure for chondrolysis and in some cases, total shoulder replacement is required.

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Whitney Moore was in prime physical condition just a few years ago. She played junior varsity soccer at West Virginia University before opening a strength and conditioning business for young athletes. In 2004, she injured her shoulder playing soccer and had surgery to repair it. But the surgery only made her shoulder worse. Moore developed a once-rare condition known as chondrolysis, in which the cartilage in the joint wears away causing bone to rub against bone.

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Patients who have had an orthopedic surgical procedure and received a prolonged infusion of a local anesthetic into the joint with a disposable elastomeric pump or any other infusion pump are urged by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to pay attention to symptoms of any joint pain, stiffness and decrease or loss of motion. If any of those symptoms persist, patients are advised to contact their health care professional.

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UCLA forward James Keefe will miss two to three weeks with the team to recovery from a dislocated left shoulder. The senior was injured during the first half of UCLA’s game against New Mexico State on December 15th. The injury occurred on the same shoulder that required surgery for a torn labrum in 2007.

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Characteristics of chondrolysis associated with intra-articular pain pumps after shoulder surgery was among the topics at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons/ the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The discussion included Drs. Peter Thomas Scheffel, Jeremiah Clinton, Joseph Lynch, Winston J. Warme, and Frederick A. Matsen III, and was moderated by Drs. Carl J. Basamania and Guido Marra. The message centered on the need for surgeons and patients to be aware of chondrolysis as a potential complication of the infusion of local anesthetic after shoulder arthroscopy.

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