Abstract
Introduction
The impact of prior ipsilateral shoulder surgery on outcomes following total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of prior shoulder surgery on patients undergoing TSA and RSA compared to patients without prior shoulder surgery. The hypothesis was that patients undergoing arthroplasty after prior ipsilateral shoulder surgery would have inferior outcomes with higher complication rates compared to patients undergoing arthroplasty without having undergone prior surgery.
Materials and Methods
Seven-hundred fifteen consecutive patients undergoing TSA or RSA between 1/2010 and 5/2014 with a minimum 2-year follow-up were prospectively analyzed. All patients were evaluated with the American Shoulder and Elbow Society (ASES), Simple Shoulder Test (SST), Functional Score, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) outcomes assessments, as well as with physical examination including range of motion assessments. Outcomes in patients undergoing prior ipsilateral shoulder surgery (PS group) were compared to those in patients without history of prior surgery (NPS group). Statistical analysis was performed using one-way univariate and multivariate analysis of covariates (ANCOVA/MANCOVA) adjusting for age, Whitney-Mann U tests, and Chi-square or Fisher's exact test, with P<0.05 considered significant.
Results
Of the 715 patients, 506 (263 TSA, 243 RSA) were available for analysis (71% follow-up rate). A total of 144 patients (29%) underwent an average of 2.0±1.1 ipsilateral shoulder surgeries, prior to arthroplasty while 362 (71%) did not undergo prior surgery. In the PS Group, rotator cuff repair (RCR) accounted for 67% of the prior surgeries. PS group patients were significantly younger at the time of arthroplasty compared to the NPS group (61.6±10.2 vs. 68.2±8.6 years, P=0.035). At an average follow-up of 42.8±16.4 months, both groups had significant improvements in ASES, SST, and VAS outcomes scores and range of motion values (P<0.05 for all). All outcomes scores in the PS group were significantly lower compared to the NPS group (P≤0.005 for all). Within the PS group, there were no significant differences detected in outcome scores or magnitudes of change in outcomes between patients undergoing RCR or any other procedure. There were 41 total complications (8.1%) and 17 total reoperations (3.4%) following shoulder arthroplasty, and there was a significantly higher rate of complications in the PS Group (18.1%) versus the NPS Group (4.1%, P<0.001). There were no significant differences between the PS and NPS groups with respect to the number of postoperative infections (P=0.679), reoperations (P=0.553), or transfusions (P=0.220).
Conclusions
While patients who have undergone prior ipsilateral shoulder surgery derive benefit from shoulder arthroplasty, these patients are significantly younger, have significantly more complications, and their magnitude of improvement and final scores are significantly lower than patients without prior surgery. This information can be used to counsel this challenging patient population on expected outcomes following shoulder arthroplasty procedures.
