Early diagnosis and revision repair of lesser tuberosity osteotomy failure after anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty

Abstract

Background

Lesser tuberosity osteotomy (LTO) in total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) has a relatively high success rate owing to bone-to-bone healing and modern repair techniques. Failure of the LTO repair has been associated with poorer outcomes, decreased patient satisfaction, and the potential need for revision arthroplasty. Despite this, few studies closely examined outcomes for revision LTO repair in the setting of prior TSA.

Methods

A retrospective review of all TSAs performed by a single surgeon from 2016 until 2023 was performed to identify all cases with LTO failure who underwent acute revision LTO repair. Baseline characteristics, postoperative complications including infection, need for revision surgery, and time to revision surgery were collected and reported on all TSA patients. All patients were followed for a minimum of 1 year after their TSA and revision LTO fixation if required. Subgroup analysis was performed on the LTO revision cohort to evaluate for potential risk factors.

Results

A total of 166 patients underwent TSA with LTO. Of these, eight patients were diagnosed with an acute LTO failure at a mean of 5.7 weeks after surgery and underwent revision LTO fixation at a mean of 6.3 weeks after surgery. At a mean follow-up of 147.9 weeks (standard deviation: 90.3; range: 52.1-284.9), seven of eight patients (87.5%) demonstrated healing of their LTO and had no complaints, complications, or reoperations at the latest follow-up. One patient developed a periprosthetic infection requiring two-stage revision. No patients in the overall cohort underwent revision shoulder arthroplasty due to subscapularis failure.

Conclusion

Early identification of subscapularis failure is important to optimize outcomes of revision fixation. Use of LTO for subscapularis repair is beneficial by allowing early radiographic detection of subscapularis failure. Revision LTO repair can be successful when performed acutely and appears to minimize the need for revision shoulder arthroplasty due to subscapularis failure.