The Kaiser Permanente shoulder arthroplasty registry: results from 6,336 primary shoulder arthroplasties.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Shoulder arthroplasty is being performed in the United States with increasing frequency. We describe the medium-term findings from a large integrated healthcare system shoulder arthroplasty registry. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Shoulder arthroplasty cases registered between January 2005 and June 2013 were included for analysis. The registry included patient characteristics, surgical information, implant data, attrition, and patient outcomes such as surgical site infections, venous thromboembolism, and revision procedures. RESULTS: During the study period, 6,336 primary cases were registered. Median follow-up time for all primaries was 3.3 years; 461 cases were lost to follow-up by ending of health plan membership. Primary cases were predominantly female (56%) and white (81%), with an average age of 70 years. The most common reason for surgery was osteoarthritis in 60% of cases, followed by acute fracture (17%) and rotator cuff tear arthropathy (15%). In elective shoulder arthroplasty procedures, 200 all-cause revisions (4%) were reported, with glenoid wear being the most common reason. INTERPRETATION: Most arthroplasties were elective procedures: over half performed for osteoarthritis. Glenoid wear was the most common reason for revision of primary shoulder arthroplasty in elective cases.

The effect of surgeon and hospital volume on shoulder arthroplasty perioperative quality metrics.

BACKGROUND: There has been a significant increase in both the incidence of shoulder arthroplasty and the number of surgeons performing these procedures. Literature regarding the relationship between surgeon or hospital volume and the performance of modern shoulder arthroplasty is limited. This study examines the effect of surgeon or hospital shoulder arthroplasty volume on perioperative metrics related to shoulder hemiarthroplasty, total shoulder arthroplasty, and reverse shoulder arthroplasty. Blood loss, length of stay, and operative time were the main endpoints analyzed. METHODS: Prospective data were analyzed from a multicenter shoulder arthroplasty registry; 1176 primary shoulder arthroplasty cases were analyzed. Correlation and analysis of covariance were used to examine the association between surgeon and hospital volume and perioperative metrics adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index. RESULTS: Surgeon volume is inversely correlated with length of stay for hemiarthroplasty and total shoulder arthroplasty and with blood loss and operative time for all 3 procedures. Hospital volume is inversely correlated with length of stay for hemiarthroplasty, with blood loss for total and reverse shoulder arthroplasty, and with operative time for all 3 procedures. High-volume surgeons performed shoulder arthroplasty 30 to 50 minutes faster than low-volume surgeons did. CONCLUSIONS: Higher surgeon and hospital case volumes led to improved perioperative metrics with all shoulder arthroplasty procedures, including reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, which has not been previously described in the literature. Surgeon volume had a larger effect on metrics than hospital volume did. This study supports the concept that complex shoulder procedures are, on average, performed more efficiently by higher volume surgeons in higher volume centers.

Risk of thromboembolism in shoulder arthroplasty: effect of implant type and traumatic indication.

BACKGROUND: Prior research about symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) after shoulder arthroplasty has not determined whether procedure type (hemiarthroplasty, total shoulder arthroplasty, or reverse shoulder arthroplasty) or surgical indication (traumatic or elective) represent risk factors for VTE after shoulder replacement. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: We therefore asked whether the risk of symptomatic VTE events and mortality within 90 days of shoulder arthroplasty was influenced by (1) procedure type, and (2) surgical indication (traumatic or elective). METHODS: We performed a retrospective database review of symptomatic VTE events and mortality within 90 days of shoulder arthroplasty in a large (30-hospital) integrated healthcare system over a 5-year period, from January 2005 to December 2009. We compared the likelihood of VTE and death in patients undergoing reverse shoulder arthroplasties (RSAs), total shoulder arthroplasties (TSAs), and hemiarthroplasties (HAs), and we compared the likelihood of VTE and death in patients who underwent elective shoulder arthroplasties with those who underwent shoulder arthroplasty in the setting of acute trauma. RESULTS: In the 2574 eligible shoulder arthroplasties identified during the study period, VTE developed in 1.01% of patients (deep vein thrombosis 0.51% and pulmonary embolism 0.54%). With the numbers available, no differences were observed in rates of VTE or mortality by procedure type. A trend toward increased VTE occurred more frequently in patients having surgery for traumatic indications than after elective surgery (1.71% versus 0.80%; p = 0.055). A higher likelihood of 90-day mortality was observed in trauma patients compared with elective (odds ratio = 7.4; 95% CI, 2.4-25.2). CONCLUSIONS: VTE occurred infrequently in this study sample. These data support future risk and benefit assessment of routine pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis in the perioperative treatment of patients undergoing shoulder arthroplasty, especially in all RSA and traumatic HA subsets, where the risk of VTE may be higher.

Shoulder arthroplasty in patients 59 years of age and younger.

BACKGROUND: While shoulder arthroplasty is a well established treatment for a variety of conditions about the shoulder, the results of shoulder replacement in younger patients are not as predictable. The purpose of this study is to examine the indications for shoulder arthroplasty in patients 59 years old and younger, and to analyze revision rates between younger and older patients. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of shoulder arthroplasties performed within a statewide integrated healthcare system between 2005 and 2010. Patients were stratified into 2 groups based on age at time of index replacement procedure: younger patients (≤59 years) and older patients (>59 years). RESULTS: There were 2981 primary arthroplasties followed for a median time of 2.2 years (interquartile range, 1.0-3.8), 90 (3.0%) of which required revisions. After adjusting for procedure type and diagnosis, younger patients had a two times higher risk (95% CI 1.2-3.5, P = .007) of revision than older patients. When looking at the risk of revision in younger and older patients separately, the risk of revision in hemiarthroplasty (RR = 4.5 vs RR = 1.7) and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RR = 33.6 vs RR = 3.0) compared to total shoulder arthroplasty were higher in younger patients compared to older patients. CONCLUSION: This study suggests patients 59 years and younger have an increased risk of revision at early follow-up. The higher risk of revision in younger patients receiving hemiarthroplasty may support the use of total shoulder arthroplasty in patients 59 years of age and younger.