Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty in Acute Fractures of the Proximal Humerus: Does Tuberosity Healing Improve Clinical Outcomes?

Objective: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of reverse shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) in elderly patients with proximal humeral fractures and assess the role of tuberosity healing on the outcome. Design: Case series. Setting: Multicenter clinical study of Level-2 trauma centers. Patients/Participants: We included 81 patients with a mean age of 78.5 ± 6.5 years (range, 58.5–90.9 years) and a nonreconstructable proximal humeral fracture. Intervention: Modular reverse fracture shoulder arthroplasty. Main Outcome Measurements: We determined range of motion, constant score, and the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Shoulder Score as clinical outcomes and evaluated tuberosity healing at 6 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years. Results: Tuberosities healed in most patients; 37 patients had completely healed tuberosities, and 33 patients had partially healed tuberosities, whereas 11 patients had unhealed tuberosities. However, no significant differences were found in the functional outcomes among the 3 groups ( P > 0.05). Conclusions: Our results with a modular reverse prosthesis confirmed similar constant scores, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Shoulder Scores, and tuberosity healing rates as reported in the current clinical evidence for RSA. We could not confirm that tuberosity healing improved functional outcomes; however, it should be noted that tuberosity healing was assessed using standard radiographs. Nevertheless, our study strengthens the consensus that RSA can be recommended for well-selected elderly patients with complex displaced proximal humeral fractures. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.