Outcomes of Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

Over the past decade, reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA) utilization has increased dramatically. By 2011, rTSA accounted for one third of shoulder arthroplasties, and as of 2013, rTSA utilization surpassed that of anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (aTSA) in the Medicare population. This gradual expansion is a result of widening indications for rTSA to include younger patients with cuff arthropathy, primary arthritis, inflammatory arthropathy of the shoulder, comminuted proximal humerus fractures not amenable to surgical fixation, massive cuff tears without cuff tear arthropathy, tumor surgery, and revision of a failed aTSA or HA. This paper will review the outcomes for rTSA in these clinical situations