What Factors are Associated With Clinically Important Improvement After Shoulder Hemiarthroplasty for Cuff Tear Arthropathy?

Background: In selected patients with a desire to maintain activity levels greater than those recommended after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty remains an option for treatment of cuff tear arthropathy (CTA). However, given the relatively small case series that have been reported to date, little is known regarding which patients will show functional improvement after this surgery.

Questions/purposes: We asked: What factors are associated with achieving the minimum clinically important difference in the simple shoulder test (SST) after hemiarthroplasty for cuff tear arthropathy?

Patients And Methods: Between 1991 and 2007, two surgeons at one academic center performed 48 shoulder hemiarthroplasties for CTA.