“It was just kind of an instantaneous motion of taking my shoulder into the ground as that happened,” Brian said.  “As I stood up, I could just feel my arm hang off my body.”

Brian said only his muscles were basically holding his whole arm on.

After the accident, Brian’s friend told him to go see orthopedic surgeon Peter Simonian.

His friend recommended him as being the premiere surgeon in the whole Central Valley in terms of shoulders and knees.

So after seeing Dr. Simonian, Brian went for surgery at Clovis Community Medical Center.

“It was actually a beautiful hospital. I never realized it was tucked in those orchards out there,” Brian said.

Dr. Simonian said Brian’s bone was broken across the scapula and the whole clavicle was dislocated upwards. He knew an advanced procedure to best help Brian.

 “This is a relatively new procedure, this actual device is very new and it’s something that’s unique,” Dr. Simonian said.  “We’ve had different ways to reestablish the ligaments, but nothing this non-invasive as this device allows us to do.”

He said this type of surgery can be very complicated because all the blood vessels in the shoulder run through that area and it’s a place not a lot of people are comfortable doing arthoscopic surgery because of the proximity of the nerve vascular structure to the bone.

Arthroscopically, Dr. Simonian passed a special device through drill holes in the shoulder. The device has a locking mechanism that passes through the bone.  When Dr. Simonian pulls it through, the button flips on the bottom surface and locks into place.   

“Once it’s in place we pull these cords taunt, and this cinches it – it’s an auto tying system. And we can take the tension out of it,” Dr. Simonian said. “And that reestablishes the ligaments so we have the cords all tied together that are holding it together until the soft tissue can heal.”

Brian was amazed at the results of the surgery.

“Whenever I look at it, I think, wow, that’s some remarkable work that I have in my shoulder,” he said.

Not only is it a remarkable and less invasive procedure, but it also offers the patient other benefits.

“It’s a lot less postoperative pain, a lot easier recovery.  In fact, people feel so good after this that we’re constantly restraining them from doing more than they should because we need to give this adequate time to heal,” Dr. Simonian said.

Brian agreed.

“The day after the surgery you are pretty much still in shock, but the day after I was surprised at how alert I felt and the coordination I had,” Brian said.  “By the fourth day I had to limit myself.”

Brian had a great experience all the way around.                    

"I had complete faith in the operation," he said. "The shoulder that was repaired sits a little straighter than my natural shoulder. It's almost like I want to repair this one, and have them match!"

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