Although short term outcomes of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA) have been promising, long-term success may be limited due to complications, including scapular notching. Scapular notching has been explained primarily as a mechanical erosion, however, generation of wear debris may lead to further biologic changes contributing to the severity of scapular notching. Highly cross-linked ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has been used routinely in constrained joint applications such as total hip arthroplasty for reduction of wear debris particles. Although rTSA shares similarity in design conformity, conventional UHMWPE remains the gold standard. A commercially available hip simulator was converted to a 12-station rTSA wear simulator. Conventional and highly cross-linked UHMWPE humeral liners were subjected to 5,000,000 cycles of alternating abduction-adduction and flexion-extension loading profiles. Every 250,000 cycles, liners were evaluated with gravimetric wear measurements and test serum was collected for morphological characterization of wear particles.Purpose:
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Studies have demonstrated both clinical and radiological success of reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA), with follow-up approaching 10-years. To date, most RTSA studies involve cemented fixation of the humeral components, and most involving uncemented RTSAs have used implants not necessarily designed for bony ingrowth. Cementless fixation utilizing proximally porous-coated (PPC) femoral implants has shown long term survivorship approaching 99% at greater than 10-years follow-up in total hip arthroplasty. Currently, the number of commercially available PPC RTSA implants is steadily growing, but there has been no published study examining clinical and radiographic outcomes in PPC, press-fit humeral stems. We hypothesized that the clinical and radiographic results of uncemented RTSA utilizing a PPC humeral stem would be similar to cemented RTSA stems when followed for at least 2-years. A prospective, IRB approved RTSA outcomes registry with 261 patients that underwent RTSA by one fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon between 2005 and 2008 was reviewed. Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of cuff tear arthropathy or severe rotator cuff deficiency refractory to all other treatments, and minimum 2-year clinical and radiographic follow-up. Exclusion criteria were proximal humeral fractures, glenohumeral instability, rheumatoid arthritis, incomplete follow-up, and revision arthroplasty. Outcome measures included active forward elevation (aFE), active external rotation (aER), active internal rotation (aIR), Constant-Murley score (CS), Subjective Shoulder Value (SSV), visual analogue scale (VAS) pain, and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score. Radiographs at 2 weeks, 3 months, 1 year, 2 years and yearly thereafter were evaluated for humeral component position, osteolysis, humeral component radiolucent lines (RLLs), stress shielding, and scapular notching. Statistical analysis was conducted by an independent institutional statistician.Introduction:
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