Reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) is becoming a commonly performed procedure. Surgeons are advised to select older patients with lower demands. This study defines patient reported activities following RSA.
Seventy-eight patients with 81 treated shoulders (average age 73 years; 49 women, 32 men) completed a survey asking about clinical parameters: pain, motion, strength, and 72 different activities. Diagnoses were rotator cuff tear arthropathy in 70 shoulders, massive rotator cuff tears with psuedoparalysis in 6, and failed treatment for proximal humeral fractures in 5. Average time from surgery to survey was 3.6 years (range, 3-5).
All clinical parameters were favorable. The 3 most commonly reported activities were low demand (cooking, baking, and driving), medium demand (gardening, leaf raking, and lawn mowing), and high demand (snow shoveling, wheelbarrow use, and dirt shoveling). These were comparable to the activities reported for total shoulder arthroplasty and hemiarthroplasty. There was no clinical or activity difference between those components with a lateral or a medial center of rotation.
A significant proportion of patients continue medium or high demand activities following RSA. These are similar to other types of shoulder arthroplasties. Future studies to determine the safety level of different activities would be helpful to counsel patients accordingly.