Total shoulder arthroplasty in dislocation arthropathy.

Follow-up examinations of 45 patients who received shoulder arthroplasty for osteoarthritis following shoulder instability were conducted after 44 months. The goal of this study was to describe the clinical findings associated with advanced glenohumeral arthritis due to shoulder instability and instability repairs and to present the clinical results and complications of treating this with shoulder arthroplasty. The weighted average Constant score increased significantly from 49.4 to 81.3 points. There was no significant difference in the type of arthroplasty with 35 cases of total shoulder replacements and ten cases of hemiarthoplasty. The rate of complications was 40% (18/45 patients) with 20% (9/45 patients) requiring an operative revision. Patients with arthritis after instability repair showed great improvement in all qualities of the Constant score. Nonetheless, further analyses are required to determine why such a relatively young group of patients showed high complication rates.