Intraoperative changes to the components planned preoperatively do not affect short-term, postoperative clinical outcomes after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty

Background

Three-dimensional, computed tomography preoperative planning has been increasingly adopted among shoulder arthroplasty surgeons. Prior studies have not examined outcomes in patients undergoing reverse total shoulder arthroplasty in which the surgeon implanted prostheses that deviated from the preoperative plan compared to patients in which the surgeon followed the preoperative plan. The hypothesis of this study was that clinical outcomes would not be different between patients in which the surgeon utilized components that deviated from those predicted in the preoperative plan and patients in which the surgeon followed the preoperative plan.

Methods

A retrospective review of patients that had preoperative planning for reverse total shoulder arthroplasty from April 2017 through February 2022 was performed. Patients were stratified into two groups: patients in which the surgeon utilized components that deviated from those anticipated by the preoperative plan (changed group), and patients in which the surgeon utilized all of the components anticipated by the preoperative plan (as planned group). Patient-reported outcomes including the Western Ontario Osteoarthritis Index, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation, Simple Shoulder Test, and Shoulder Activity Level were recorded preoperatively, at one year, and at two years. Preoperative and one-year postoperative range of motion was recorded.

Results

One hundred and eighty-nine patients were included in this study. One hundred forty-seven patients had intraoperative changes to their preoperative plan and 42 patients underwent reverse total arthroplasty without changes to their preoperative plan. There was no difference determined between any patient-reported outcome score at the one- and two-year postoperative time points between the as planned group and the changed group. No differences were found in range of motion between groups. Patients initially planned to undergo anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty that were intraoperatively converted to a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty had equivalent outcomes compared to those that had 1) other intraoperative deviations or 2) had no changes to their original preoperative plan.

Conclusion

Patients undergoing reverse total shoulder arthroplasty that had an intraoperative deviation to the components utilized in the preoperative plan had equivalent 1) patient-reported outcomes at one and two years after surgery and 2) range of motion one year after surgery compared to those that did not change from the preoperative plan. This study suggests it is safe to make intraoperative changes to the components utilized in the preoperative plan without concern for inferior postoperative outcomes when performing reverse total shoulder arthroplasty.