Most Young Shoulder Replacement Patients Can Resume Playing Sports

San Diego, CA—March 14, 2017

The question has faced orthopedic surgeons for years: can young, active people who have undergone shoulder replacement surgery resume playing sports? And if so, after how long?

A new study suggests that the vast majority of them can.

The research involved a retrospective analysis of patients age 55 or younger undergoing total shoulder arthroplasty for late-stage osteoarthritis. Over 96 percent of the study subjects were able to resume at least one previous sport an average of 6.7 months post-surgery. Furthermore, during the study’s 5-year follow-up period, only 4 of the 61 shoulders required a revision surgery. However, none of the revisions were for implant loosening, a major concern among surgeons when their patients return to sports.    

"Many patients under the age of 55 not only want to improve their pain and function following total shoulder replacement, they also wish to maintain an active lifestyle," comments study principal investigator Lawrence V. Gulotta, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery.

"We found total shoulder replacement to be a safe and effective means to allow relatively young patients to return to their sporting endeavors," he says.

About Hospital for Special Surgery
Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. HSS is nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics and No. 3 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2017-2018), and is the first hospital in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center four consecutive times. HSS has one of the lowest infection rates in the country. HSS is an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College and as such all Hospital for Special Surgery medical staff are faculty of Weill Cornell. The hospital's research division is internationally recognized as a leader in the investigation of musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases. HSS has locations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
www.hss.edu