Hello, I'm Dr. Dongkyu Lee, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. Shoulder calcific tendinitis is an incredibly difficult condition, as anyone who has experienced it knows. Some patients experience sudden, extremely severe pain. Others endure persistent, ongoing pain that plagues them for a long time. The fundamental treatment for shoulder calcific tendinitis is removing the calcification. Conservative treatments such as injections and shockwave therapy are commonly used. However, these treatments are ineffective more often than you might think. Results vary tremendously depending on the characteristics and size of the calcification. Let me introduce a treatment that can resolve any type of calcific tendinitis. It's called calcification crushing and aspiration. For a more detailed explanation, please refer to the link below. https://blog.naver.com/9690067/223320621867
🔗 https://blog.naver.com/9690067/223320621867Calcification crushing and aspiration, as the name suggests, means crushing the calcification and aspirating it out. Regardless of the calcification type — whether hard or paste-like — it is crushed and then aspirated using saline solution. Let me show you today's case. This patient is a 40-year-old woman who had suffered from shoulder calcific tendinitis for an entire year. She said she tried every treatment available at other hospitals — injections, shockwave therapy, you name it. She also had a syringe aspiration procedure done, but barely any calcification came out. The pain improved briefly only when she received steroid injections (pain shots), only to have the excruciating pain recur shortly after. This cycle repeated over and over, causing tremendous frustration. She traveled all the way from Gyeongbuk Province, pleading with me to cure her calcific tendinitis. Let's first take a look at her condition.
On the X-ray, a large, bright white calcification is visible inside the red circle. I checked the size and characteristics of the calcification with ultrasound.
A large calcification was observed, measuring approximately 2.0 cm in height and 1.85 cm in width. On ultrasound, the outline of the calcification was mostly visible, indicating a paste-like consistency. With very paste-like calcification like this, it can be difficult for the material to pass through the narrow opening of a syringe needle. This is likely why the previous hospital's syringe aspiration attempt was unsuccessful. In such cases, I use my proprietary technique: first injecting a solution that helps loosen the calcification, then using a specially designed guide and drill to crush and aspirate the calcification for effective removal. Let me show you the ultrasound video from the calcification crushing and aspiration procedure.
In the video, you can see the specially designed guide being inserted into the calcification, followed by crushing with a specially designed drill, and then aspiration of the crushed calcification using saline solution. During the calcification crushing and aspiration procedure, it is critical to crush only the calcification while precisely targeting it to avoid damaging any healthy tissue. If done incorrectly, healthy tendon tissue could be damaged, potentially causing a tear. With over a decade of experience performing calcification crushing and aspiration, I can precisely and meticulously crush and aspirate any type of calcification. Here is the post-procedure syringe photo.
The white material visible within the yellow circle in the syringe is the crushed and aspirated calcification. The saline solution, which was originally clear, has turned milky white, showing that the calcification was effectively extracted. Let's look at the post-procedure X-ray.
The calcification is gone after the procedure. It has been cleanly removed.
Comparing the before and after images, you can see the calcification has been so thoroughly removed that it is no longer visible on the X-ray. The patient was overjoyed to be free from a year of suffering. She said the trip from the countryside was absolutely worth it!
Shoulder calcific tendinitis can be treated non-surgically, without any surgery. Calcification crushing and aspiration can free you from the pain of shoulder calcific tendinitis. Platinum Clinic, Sinsa Station, Gangnam. Dr. Dongkyu Lee
