Mid-term outcomes of bony increased offset-reverse total shoulder arthroplasty in the Asian population

To evaluate clinical and radiological outcomes of bony increased offset-reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (BIO-RSA) in the Asian population at mid-term follow-up.

From June 2012 to August 2017 at a single center, 43 patients underwent BIO-RSA, and 38 patients with minimum 2 years follow-up were enrolled. We evaluated the clinical and radiological outcomes, and complications at the last follow-up. In addition, we divided these patients into notching and no-notching groups and compared the demographics, preoperative, and postoperative characteristics of patients.

Visual analogue scale, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, University of California-Los Angeles Shoulder Scale, and Simple Shoulder Test scores improved significantly from preoperative (5.00, 3.93, 1.72, 3.94) to postoperative (1.72, 78.91, 28.34, 7.66) (p<0.05) outcomes. All range of motion except internal rotation improved significantly at the final follow-up (p<0.05), and the bone graft was well-incorporated with the native glenoid in all patients (100%). However, scapular notching was observed in 20 of 38 patients (53%). In the comparison between notching and no-notching groups (18 vs. 20 patients), there were no significant differences in demographics, radiological parameters, and clinical outcomes except acromion-greater tuberosity (AT) distance (p=0.003). Intraoperative complications included three metaphyseal fractures and one inferior screw malposition. Postoperative complications included ectopic ossification, scapular neck stress fracture, humeral stem relaxation, and late infection in one case each.

BIO-RSA showed improved clinical outcomes at mid-term follow-up in Asian population. However, we observed higher scapular notching compared to the previous studies. In addition, adequate glenoid lateralization with appropriate humeral lengthening (AT distance) might reduce scapular notching.