Survivorship of the Stryker Ascend Flex uncemented metaphyseal bearing stem at a minimum 2- and 5-year follow-up

Introduction: The Ascend Flex short stem implant has been reported to have good early clinical outcomes and low revision rates. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the early to mid-term radiographic and clinical outcomes of patients who underwent primary shoulder arthroplasty with this implant.

Methods: All consecutive patients who underwent primary shoulder arthroplasty with short uncemented Ascend Flex stems with a minimum of 24-month follow-up were included. The primary outcomes were revision and reoperation rate. The secondary outcomes included stress shielding and Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS).

Results: Totally, 151 shoulders were eligible for inclusion. Out of which 73 were anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty, 77 were reverse geometry, and 1 was a hemiarthroplasty. Mean follow-up duration was 52 ± 17.2 months. The revision and reoperation rates were 0.6% and 2.6%, respectively. 1.3% anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (aTSA) cases and 6.5% RSA cases demonstrated stress shielding. OSS improved from 16.1 ± 8.5 to 34.1 ± 12.3 in aTSA cases (Z = -3.98, p < 0.001) and from 15.6 ± 8.4 to 30.0 ± 13.5 in RSA cases (Z = -3.41, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: These findings demonstrate reassuring outcomes for this implant at a mean of 52 months. Further reports are required to document the long-term outcomes for this component.