An 80-year-old woman underwent a right reverse total shoulder arthroplasty for cuff tear arthropathy with no complications. She was discharged 3 days after surgery with well-controlled pain. However, 6 days postoperatively, she reported the onset of excruciating pain in her right shoulder, and conventional radiographs, including an axillary radiograph, were obtained.

Despite improvements in glenoid prosthesis design, materials and surgical techniques, complications related to the glenoid component continue to be a leading cause of failure after total shoulder arthroplasty. Although previously felt to be of little clinical significance, radiolucent lines around the glenoid prosthesis are now recognized as a sign of impending mid and long term fixation proble...

HYPOTHESIS Revision shoulder arthroplasty represents a complex and difficult problem for the treating surgeon, with multiple potential complications. In the setting of a well-fixed humeral component, removal can lead to fractures and compromise the outcome of the revision. The current study describes and evaluates the results of a novel vertical humeral osteotomy (VHO) for stem extraction. We h...

We evaluate our experience with arthroscopic interpositioning arthroplasty as a treatment of the young degenerative shoulder joint. Between 2007 and 2009 ten patients were treated with either a dermal allograft or a meniscal allograft. In seven patients the graft failed and within 13 months these were revised to a total shoulder arthroplasty. Three patients are still satisfied after 7 to 8 year...

Axillary artery injury has been associated with shoulder dislocation and surgery. We describe a case of delayed axillary artery occlusion after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty. The injury was confirmed by Doppler and angiography and was treated with angioplasty and stenting. Early recognition and treatment of this injury are mandatory for patients' recovery.

Glenoid wear is common in the setting of shoulder arthritis. Severe glenoid erosion presents a serious challenge to the surgeon performing a shoulder arthroplasty. This paper presents the various classification schemes for glenoid erosion. The results of the six main treatment options for shoulder arthroplasty with an eroded glenoid are reviewed. The six treatment options include: 1. eccentric ...

Excision arthroplasty of the shoulder is a rarely performed procedure used in cases where replacement of a failed arthroplasty is not feasible. We report four cases of excision arthroplasty following a shoulder replacement, one performed for infection and three for instability. Excision arthroplasty resulted in very poor function with pain improvement in only two cases.

BACKGROUND We are not aware of any previous study that has examined predictive factors for blood transfusion after shoulder arthroplasty. We analyzed the association between clinical factors and the need for postoperative blood transfusion and documented the use and waste of predonated blood in a group of patients managed with shoulder arthroplasty. METHODS A retrospective study of 119 patien...

BACKGROUND The rotator cuff muscles are the main stabilizer of the glenohumeral joint. After total shoulder arthroplasty using anterior approaches, a dysfunction of the subscapularis muscle has been reported. In the present paper we tested the hypothesis that a deficient subscapularis following total shoulder arthroplasty can induce joint instability. METHODS To test this hypothesis we have d...