Functional outcome of shoulder hemiarthroplasty for fractures: a multicentre analysis

UNLABELLED: In this multicentre study, data on 102 shoulder hemiarthroplasties for the treatment of fractures were analysed retrospectively with regard to tuberosity healing and functional outcome. METHODS: Clinical outcome was assessed using the constant score (CS) and the American Shoulder and Elbow Score (ASES). The mean follow-up time was 28.1 months. The proportion of patients presenting tuberosity healing was 35.3% (36 out of 102). RESULTS: Anatomical tuberosity healing has a significant effect on CS, especially for lateral elevation (p=0.0076), forward elevation (p=0.0002), power (p=0.0023) and the ASES (p=0.017). However, the pain value of the CS was not influenced by tuberosity healing (p=0.34). In patients with anatomically healed tuberosities, the CS averaged 53.0 points, whereas in the group of patients with non-anatomical tuberosity healing, the score averaged 40.1 points (p=0.0004). There was an 11-fold increase in tuberosity nonunion in females compared with males (p=0.0045). Further, nonunion was seen to be associated with advanced age of >70 years (p=0.037) and the presence of osteoporosis (p=0.034). CONCLUSION: In this study, we found that anatomical tuberosity healing around the prosthesis improved functional outcome and range of motion.status: publishe