The 50 most-cited articles in reverse shoulder arthroplasty.

Background: Citation analyses have been used to understand the impact that a group of publications has on its field. As the techniques and indications of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) continue to expand, it is important to identify articles that can orient readers to the history, evolution, and current status of the body of RTSA literature. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the 50 most-cited articles related to RTSA.

Methods: Various Boolean queries were searched on the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science. Information collected included author name, publication year, country of origin, journal name, article type, total number of citations, and level of evidence.

Results: Top 50 most-cited articles amassed a total of 10,521 citations. The most-cited article was cited a total of 766 times. The most common study designs were case series (28) and cohort studies (9). Authors from the United States (24) contributed the most to included papers, followed by France (19) and Switzerland (8).

Discussion: The most-cited articles on RTSA are expert opinions, case studies, and cohort studies published by American authors. As RTSA continues to grow over the next decade, studies with higher levels-of-evidence may overtake articles included in this analysis.