Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Sep 18, 2016; 7(9): 519-526
Published online Sep 18, 2016. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v7.i9.519
Return to sports after shoulder arthroplasty
Christine C Johnson, Daniel J Johnson, Joseph N Liu, Joshua S Dines, David M Dines, Lawrence V Gulotta, Grant H Garcia
Christine C Johnson, Joseph N Liu, Joshua S Dines, David M Dines, Lawrence V Gulotta, Grant H Garcia, Department of Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY 10021, United States
Daniel J Johnson, the School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, United States
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the preparation and submission of this work.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The following authors declared potential conflicts of interest: Dines JS is a paid consultant for Arthrex and Conmed; Dines DM receives royalties from Biomet; Gulotta LV is a paid consultant for Biomet.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Christine C Johnson, MD, Department of Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 E 70th St, New York, NY 10021, United States. johnsonc@hss.edu
Telephone: +1-212-6061466 Fax: +1-212-6061477
Received: March 20, 2016
Peer-review started: March 23, 2016
First decision: April 20, 2016
Revised: April 30, 2016
Accepted: June 27, 2016
Article in press: June 29, 2016
Published online: September 18, 2016
Processing time: 176 Days and 5 Hours
Abstract

Many patients prioritize the ability to return to sports following shoulder replacement surgeries, including total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA), reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA), and hemiarthroplasty (HA). While activity levels after hip and knee replacements have been well-established in the literature, studies on this topic in the field of shoulder arthroplasty are relatively limited. A review of the literature regarding athletic activity after shoulder arthroplasty was performed using the PubMed database. All studies relevant to shoulder arthroplasty and return to sport were included. The majority of patients returned to their prior level of activity within six months following TSA, RTSA, and shoulder HA. Noncontact, low demand activities are permitted by most surgeons postoperatively and generally have higher return rates than contact sports or high-demand activities. In some series, patients reported an improvement in their ability to participate in sports following the arthroplasty procedure. The rates of return to sports following TSA (75%-100%) are slightly higher than those reported for HA (67%-76%) and RTSA (75%-85%). Patients undergoing TSA, RTSA, and shoulder HA should be counseled that there is a high probability that they will be able to return to their preoperative activity level within six months postoperatively. TSA has been associated with higher rates of return to sports than RTSA and HA, although this may reflect differences in patient population or surgical indication.

Keywords: Total shoulder arthroplasty; Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty; Shoulder replacement; Return to sport; Hemiarthroplasty

Core tip: Many patients prioritize the ability to return to sports following shoulder replacement surgeries, including total shoulder arthroplasty, reverse total shoulder arthroplasty and hemiarthroplasty. While activity levels after hip and knee replacements have been well-established in the literature, studies on this topic in the field of shoulder arthroplasty are relatively limited. Information about activity levels and the rate of return to sports following shoulder arthroplasty would help both patients and surgeons more accurately manage expectations. This clinical review examines how return to sport following shoulder arthroplasty has been studied and reported in the literature.