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Valrico, Fla.-According to an AdventHealth spokesperson, the director of orthopedics at Carrollwood Hospital of the Health System is one of the few people in the country to use innovative technology for shoulder replacement surgery, which will take recovery time from approximately Six weeks was shortened to about two weeks.

"Historically, when we did this, we had to cut through the muscles to get into the joints and see what we were doing," said Dr. Mark Miguel. "When you do this, you have to protect the patient in a fixator for six weeks to heal, which means that activities of daily living are very difficult."

Mighell said that advances in technology and surgical instruments have made it possible to perform surgery without cutting muscles. He told Spectrum Bay News 9 that he was able to plan surgery virtually, the new saw could better protect soft tissues, and engineers are designing more high-tech guides for use during surgery.

"So, all these add up, plus my ability to do cadaver work. We have a very active dissection laboratory. Tampa is a great place for medical tourism. There is education here," Miguel said. "It allows me to perform this operation on the corpse first. So, at this point, I have done it, you know, more than 50, close to 100 patients."

"I don't know who else does this the way I do," Mighell continued. "I made a special window to remove bone spurs. So, the way I do this is a bit different from others."

Ron Russell is the top 20 of these patients. In August last year, he underwent a shoulder replacement using a new operation.

"Two weeks after the operation, I was able to get rid of the sling and start exercising my arms. I didn't need to recover at all. I just started my normal functions, my normal activities," Russell said.

The roots of Russell's injury can be traced back 30 years ago. At the time, he was a captain of Hillsborough Fire Rescue, where he worked for more than 40 years.

"In my 40 years, I prayed 3 times because I think that's the way it is, and the lower level rescue is one of them," Russell said. 

On July 31, 1991, Russell was one of the staff who responded to the call. He said a man was trapped in a collapsed well while trying to repair his well. 

"When I descended to him with a rope, his face was looking up, the only thing that was exposed was his nose," Russell recalled.

According to Russell, the ground near the hole was too unstable to bring in equipment to dig out people. So, he and others used 3 hours and 47 minutes to rescue him with their hands. All along, Russell said that he must maintain a bent posture. This resulted in a serious back injury, which will continue to make part of his work difficult.

Russell pointed to a piece of equipment installed on the wall of his house and said, “This is the style of the air bag installed on the seat of a fire truck.” 

Russell said that the extra 50-pound tank and his other equipment made it difficult to get in and out of the fire truck due to a strained back.

"At that time I started to crawl in and out with my arms," ​​Russell said. "Then I will go out and use my arms to support the weight because my back can't."

Over time, Russell said that his shoulder was injured. He said that since undergoing the surgery, he has seen a big difference.

"It is still a major joint substitute," Miguel said. "It does need ice. This is not to say that it can eliminate the pain of surgery, but it does allow patients to free up time to drive and take care of their families."

Mighell said that he believes that within ten years, all shoulder replacement surgeries will be done using methods that do not require muscle cutting. He said he recently taught the techniques he used to surgeons in California. He said that he hopes other advancements in the field include the integration of robotics into shoulder surgery.