La rééducation après arthroplastie de l’épaule – informations à donner aux patients

Abstract

Shoulder rehabilitation after arthroplasty starts from the early days after the surgery and continues for several months. The aim is to make the patient recovering a functional as well as painless shoulder in order to get back as much as possible to his (her) everyday life activities. As a result, the rehabilitation process has to respect some fundamental rules, such as paying a specific attention to pain reactions or inflammation. The physiotherapist conducts a progressive rehabilitation, starting by showing simple movements and exercises to the patient, and giving him (her) all the help he (she) requires. The patient, main actor of his (her) own rehabilitation, will have the task to reproduce these exercises regularly during the day. At the beginning of the rehabilitation process, if possible, exercises performed in hot water swimming pool will complete this self-rehabilitation. Specific precautions related to the surgery and the surgeon's instructions have to be followed, as for example, caution concerning the sub-scapularis’ healing. The physiotherapist guides the patient during the whole rehabilitation process: he teaches exercises, corrects the wrong movements, reassures if necessary. During the follow-up medical examination, the surgeon evaluates recovery progress, dreads the eventual problems and gives his agreement to the everyday life activities resumption.