Subscapularis in Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

Sebastian F Bigdon; Lilianna Bolliger; Christoph E Albers; Philippe Collin; Matthias A Zumstein

doi:10.1177/2471549219834192

Subscapularis in Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

J Shoulder Elb Arthroplast. 2019 Mar 7:3:2471549219834192. doi: 10.1177/2471549219834192. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Sebastian F Bigdon¹, Lilianna Bolliger¹, Christoph E Albers¹, Philippe Collin², Matthias A Zumstein¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
² Saint-Grégoire Private Hospital Center, Saint-Grégoire Cedex, France.

Abstract

The use of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) is becoming increasingly popular, but many biomechanical aspects are poorly understood. Particularly, the role and function of the subscapularis following RSA are unclear. Several clinical and biomechanical studies have analyzed its role in range of motion and stability. There is some evidence that the subscapularis is beneficial for stability but may reduce range of motion. This review provides an overview of the current literature, which suggests that the subscapularis may have a more important role in RSA than originally thought.

Keywords: impaired range of motion; reverse total shoulder arthroplasty; review; stability; subscapularis.