Convertible Glenoid Components Facilitate Revisions to Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty Easier: Retrospective Review of 13 Cases

February 8, 2018 | Surgery

Philippe Valenti, MD ; Denis Katz, MD ; Jean Kany, MD ; Jean-David Werthel, MD, MS

TAKE-HOME POINTS

Full polyethylene is the gold standard, but the revision of glenoid loosening leads a difficult reconstruction of a glenoid bone.
A complete convertible system facilitates the revision and decreases the rate of complications.
The functional and subjective results of the revision are good.
During the revision, the metalback was well fixed without any sign of loosening.
In 3 cases the humeral stem was changed; in 2 cases there was no space to reduce (onlay system) and in 1 case it was an older design, nonadapted.

Despite the encouraging results reported in this study, there are some limitations. Firstly, no control group was used. Attempting to address this issue, we compared our results with the literature. Secondly, the number of patients in our study was small. Finally, the follow-up duration (mean 22 months) did not provide long-term outcomes.

CONCLUSION

This retrospective study shows that a complete convertible system facilitates conversion of TSAs to RSAs with excellent pain relief and a significant improvement in shoulder function. A platform system on both the humeral and the glenoid side reduces the operative time of the conversion with a low risk of complications.

References