Introduction:

Glenohumeral osteoarthritis leads to a functional loss and a decrease in the quality of life of many patients that suffers it. Currently there is no agreement on the use of hemiarthroplasty or total arthroplasty as definitive treatment. The objective is to show the results of the treatment of primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis through hemiarthroplasty in our service.

Material and methods:

We reviewed 14 patients (19 hemiarthroplasties) performed between 2004 and 2013 in patients diagnosed with primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis without glenoid morphological anomaly. We managed to collect data from eight patients (11 hemiarthroplasties), assessing functional status, pain, and performing activities of daily living using the Constant, ASES and DASH scores preoperatively and at five years of minimum follow-up (range 5-11 years), as well as related complications. The preoperative status was compared to the end of the follow-up.

Results:

A significant improvement was found in all the parameters analyzed in the study (p < 0.05). The average pain in EVA score decreased from 8.89 to 2.67. The ASES improved from 13.51 to 63. 51 half point. The Constant increase of 20.11 points to 65.11 points. The mean preoperative score in the DASH score was 73.68 and 28.30 postoperatively. The average survival of the implant was 81.82% in the seven years of average follow-up.

Conclusion:

Shoulder hemiarthroplasty obtains good functional results in the treatment of primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis with few complications. The cause of the failure were glenoid erosion in all the cases.