Two new studies have found that shoulder arthroplasty may effectively reduce pain, increase functionality, and allow patients who play golf and racket sports to resume the activities, according to a report from Newswise summarizing the studies. The new findings were presented at the 2023 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting.
In the first study, researchers sought to assess patient outcomes related to golf performance following total and reverse shoulder arthroplasty. In a survey, they asked 47 patients who underwent total shoulder arthroplasty and 22 who underwent reverse shoulder arthroplasty—and who had returned to playing golf after the procedures—about various measures of performance, pain, and enjoyability. The researchers discovered that compared with those who underwent total shoulder arthroplasty, 59.1% of patients who underwent reverse arthroplasty vs 48.9% returned to golf within 6 months and 90.0% vs 85.1% returned within 1 year. Further, the patients in both arthroplasty groups experienced similar levels of play, similar levels of enjoyment for the sport, and either improvements or no changes to their handicaps and driving distances. Although pain was cited most often among patients who underwent reverse shoulder arthroplasty as a reason they played golf less frequently, overall, pain levels significantly decreased for most patients.
In the second study, researchers surveyed 26 patients who returned to racket sports following total shoulder arthroplasty and 13 who returned after reverse shoulder arthroplasty—and found that compared with 46% of patients who underwent reverse shoulder arthroplasty, 50% of patients who underwent total shoulder arthroplasty returned to the sports within 6 months, and 81% vs 92% returned within 1 year. Although three patients in the reverse cohort and one patient in the total cohort could not return to racket sports as a result of the procedures, most of the patients saw improvements in pain and reported both enjoying and performing the sports to higher degrees. The researchers of both studies concluded that their findings have illuminated activity levels patients can expect to achieve following both procedures.