1. Each patient is an individual case

The ideal therapeutic option for treating a precisely defined shoulder condition can be tailored according to criteria specific to each patient: age, professional or sporting context, medical history, and the patient’s motivation to commit to post-operative rehabilitation.

In practice, the decision to operate on a patient is made jointly by a medical team bringing together the GP, the anaesthetist and the surgeon.

2. Surgery is not a systematic therapeutic option

Our 28 years dedicated exclusively to shoulder pathology have demonstrated that rehabilitation, properly managed according to our protocol, is sufficient to stabilise or even cure three out of four patients (6,000 operated on out of 24,000 seen in consultation).

3. We perform 80% of our surgical procedures using arthroscopic microsurgical technique

Arthroscopic shoulder surgery allows us to operate without leaving any scar on the skin, without risk of infection, and while considerably reducing post-operative pain.

4. Approximately 20% of our surgical procedures are performed using conventional open surgery: instability surgery in athletes and shoulder arthroplasty.
5. After shoulder surgery, rehabilitation is for us an indispensable partner, contributing 50% to the final functional outcome.

Our role is to prepare the patient before the procedure by selecting a physiotherapist who is familiar with our protocols and whom we trust to manage the patient post-operatively and keep them motivated.

It is also our role to monitor post-operative rehabilitation by reviewing the patient regularly — on day 15 and day 45, then at 3 and 6 months post-operatively — either directly in consultation or using appropriate communication tools (e.g. Skype®) when the patient lives far from Switzerland.

6. Cortisone injections can temporarily relieve severe shoulder pain:

– If this temporary therapeutic option is based on an accurate diagnosis.

– If the injection is carried out in the consultation room by the specialist shoulder surgeon or by the radiologist under fluoroscopic guidance.

In all cases, a cortisone injection treats the symptom only, not the underlying cause of the pain.

Caution: repeated cortisone injections without prior X-ray assessment and without an accurate diagnosis of the shoulder condition being treated should be avoided!