Shoulder Osteoarthritis

Glenohumeral joint arthritis is primarily caused by a progressive loss of the cartilage between the humerus and the scapula, or secondarily from the degeneration caused by other pathologies such as rheumatism.

Shoulder osteoarthritis causes pain, rigidity and a loss of range of motion progressing into an incapacitating condition for the patient.

Shoulder Osteoarthritis Treatment

• Physiotherapy

Periodic physiotherapy associated with anti-inflammatory treatment may improve functional parameters and reduce the pain, but it can’t usually stop the progression of the osteoarthritis.

• Infiltrations

Corticosteroid infiltrations or viscosupplementation with hyaluronic acid might relieve the symptoms to some extent.

• Shoulder Prothesis

A partial or total replacement of the shoulder has positive results in terms of functionality, improving the symptoms significantly.

There has been a remarkable evolution regarding shoulder implant procedures, which nowadays include, but it’s not limited to, the classic hemiarthroplasty (in which only a humeral component is used), total arthroplasty (in which the glenoid is also resurfaced) and "resurfacing" procedures (with minimal bone loss where only the humeral cartilage is removed and replaced by a metallic implant).

Currently, even in shoulder osteoarthritis cases associated with a complete rotator cuff tear, it is possible to use special implants (reverse arthoplasties) with satisfactory functional results. In this procedure it is the glenoid component that has a convex surface in which a humeral concave component will be implemented. This will lower the rotation centre of the joint and improve the leverage of the deltoid muscle compensating the absence of the rotator cuff.