Inferior outcomes and higher complication rates after shoulder arthroplasty in workers' compensation patients

Outcomes of shoulder surgery in workers' compensation (WC) patients have generally been inferior to those in non-WC patients. The purpose of this study was to compare the complication rates and clinical outcomes after shoulder arthroplasty in WC patients and control non-WC patients.

An institutional shoulder arthroplasty database was queried for patients with minimum 2-year follow-up who underwent total shoulder arthroplasty, reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, or hemiarthroplasty. WC patients were age and sex matched with non-WC patients and retrospectively evaluated for complication rates, patient-reported outcome (PRO) scores, and range of motion.

We matched 45 WC and 45 non-WC patients by age and sex, with the WC group having a higher rate of prior surgery (82% vs 38%, P < .001). Both groups experienced significant improvements in all PROs, forward elevation, and external rotation (P < .05 for all). The WC group had inferior 2-year outcomes for all PROs and forward elevation (P ≤ .001 for all), as well as a higher reoperation rate (16% vs 2%, P = .030) and higher rate of persistent pain at final follow-up (33% vs 11%, P = .021). On multivariate regression controlling for other variables including number of prior surgical procedures, WC status remained associated with lower improvements in American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (P < .001), functional (P < .001), and Simple Shoulder Test (P < .001) scores, as well as a higher reoperation rate (P = .015) and higher rate of persistent pain (P = .027).

Although both WC and non-WC patients experienced significant clinical improvements after shoulder arthroplasty, WC patients had a higher reoperation rate, inferior PROs, and a higher rate of persistent pain.