Outcomes and Survivorship After Arthroscopic Treatment of Glenohumeral Arthritis: A Systematic Review

Purpose: To perform a systematic review of the literature describing outcomes, surgical procedures, and rates of conversion to arthroplasty after arthroscopic debridement of symptomatic primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis.

Methods: The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Embase, and Ovid MEDLINE were queried. Articles without sufficiently detailed descriptions of the debridement procedure, those primarily describing cartilage resurfacing procedures, or those that did not report any postoperative outcomes were excluded. Study design, patient demographic characteristics, operative details, imaging findings, patient-reported outcomes, and rates of conversion to arthroplasty were compiled and reported. Assessment of bias was performed using the Methodological Index for Non-randomized Studies (MINORS) criteria.

Results: A total of 371 patients (382 shoulders) in 8 studies were included. Patient sample sizes ranged from 8 patients (9 shoulders) to 98 patients (107 shoulders), and the samples were predominantly comprised of male patients (range, 57.1%-100%). The mean age and follow-up period ranged from 38 to 59 years and from 13.7 to 46.8 months, respectively. In studies reporting both preoperative and postoperative outcomes, improvements were found in American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scores (range, 8.6-22) and visual analog scale scores for pain (range, 0.4-3.8). There was significant heterogeneity (I² = 75%) in the rates of conversion to shoulder arthroplasty, which ranged from 4% to 42.4%, with the mean time to conversion ranging from 9 to 56 months. Study heterogeneity improved with subgroup analyses based on minimum duration of follow-up (>2 years) and preoperative radiographic inclusion criteria.

Conclusions: Arthroscopic treatment of glenohumeral osteoarthritis provides improvements in ROM and patient-reported outcomes with minimal complications. Despite variability in procedures and rates of subsequent conversion to arthroplasty, arthroscopic treatment appears to provide symptom relief and functional improvements in carefully selected patients. However, the longevity of improvement remains unclear, with studies including a longer duration of follow-up showing potential regression of symptom relief and increased rates of conversion to arthroplasty.

Level of evidence: Level IV, systematic review of Level III and IV studies.