Mid-Term to Long-Term Follow-Up of Stemless Anatomic Total Shoulder Arthroplasty.

Background: The purpose was to report mid-term to long-term clinical outcomes in a multicentre series of patients who received stemless total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA). The hypothesis was that stemless TSA would be a safe and effective treatment with satisfactory clinical outcomes.

Methods: Authors retrospectively reviewed records of 62 stemless TSAs implanted between March 2013 and December 2014. Six were excluded because they had fractures or muscular impairment, which left 56: primary osteoarthritis (n = 49), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 4), avascular necrosis (n = 1), or glenoid dysplasia (n = 2). Outcomes were absolute Constant Score (CS), age-/sex-adjusted CS, and the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score. Proportions of patients that achieved substantial clinical benefits for absolute CS and ASES scores were determined.

Results: Of the 56 patients, 8 (14%) died (unrelated to TSA), 5 (9%) were lost to follow-up, and 2 (4%) refused participation. One patient was reoperated for infection with implant removal (excluded from analysis), and one for periprosthetic fracture without implant removal. At 7.6 ± 0.5 years (range 6.8-9.3), the remaining 40 patients, aged 71.0 ± 8.5 years, achieved net improvements of 40.7 ± 15.8 (CS), 62%±23% (age-/sex-adjusted CS), and 59.7 ± 16.4 (ASES). Of patients with complete absolute CS (n = 37) and ASES score (n = 28), respectively, 33 (89%) and 27 (96%) achieved substantial clinical benefits.

Conclusions: Stemless TSA yields improvements in functional outcomes at mid-term to long-term that exceed the substantial clinical benefits of the absolute CS and ASES score at a mean follow-up of 7.6 years. Although the findings of this study revealed low complications and revision rates, more studies are needed to confirm long-term benefits of stemless TSA.

Level of evidence: IV, case series.