Hello, I'm Dr. Dongkyu Lee, an orthopedic specialist. Today, I'd like to share some thoughts about calcific deposit crushing and aspiration. Calcific deposit crushing and aspiration is a procedure that fundamentally treats calcific tendinitis. Since it directly removes the calcium deposits, it can truly be called a fundamental treatment. Moreover, because it can be performed non-surgically, patients can receive treatment without worrying about the risks of surgery. However, I'm writing this with a somewhat heavy and concerned heart. Some clinics claim to extract calcium with a syringe, while others say they break it up by poking it repeatedly with a needle. These methods are known by various names — calcium aspiration, calcium needle aspiration, and so on. Of course, there are cases where these methods do successfully treat calcific tendinitis. But the reality is that there are far more patients who don't improve despite receiving these treatments. This is because many cases — depending on the nature and size of the calcium deposit — simply cannot be resolved with such methods. So what makes calcific deposit crushing and aspiration different? As the name suggests, it involves crushing the calcium first, then flushing out the crushed fragments using sterile saline. To perform this crushing non-surgically, I developed and use a specially designed drill and guide — and to my knowledge, no other clinic uses this approach. That's because this is a method I developed, and I coined the term "calcific deposit crushing and aspiration" myself. When I opened my orthopedic practice, I devoted extensive research to finding ways to treat calcium deposits non-surgically, and calcific deposit crushing and aspiration is the result of those efforts. Also, because calcific tendinitis causes such extreme pain, simple local anesthesia wasn't enough — patients were suffering too much. So I now perform the procedure under brachial plexus block to ensure patients can undergo treatment without any discomfort. I use precision ultrasound guidance throughout to minimize any damage to healthy tendon tissue.
After 15 years of continuous effort and accumulated experience, I believe there is no shoulder calcific tendinitis I cannot treat. Dr. Dongkyu Lee
That said, it's disheartening to see some clinics promoting the calcific deposit crushing and aspiration technique as if they developed it themselves. Whether they can truly perform it at the same level remains to be seen (and if they can, that would be a good thing). I just wanted to share these feelings of frustration and concern.
