Return to Sport After Shoulder Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review

Shoulder arthroplasty, a dependable and successful method to relieve pain and restore joint mobility, is increasingly chosen by a large number of individuals. The recent rise in interest in a return to sport (RTS) after shoulder arthroplasty prompts a comprehensive review of RTS outcomes in this context.

This systematic review was conducted to extensively examine RTS elements following shoulder arthroplasty. The review included searches from various databases, including Web of Science, PEDRO, Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, SCOPUS, and CINAHL, spanning from January 2000 to May 2023. Additionally, a thorough manual search was undertaken, including a comprehensive review of article sources.

Among 18 articles, we found significant RTS rates (>80%), level (high/excellent), time to RTS (5.3 months to 9.1 months), and a high number of RTS patients in swimming after shoulder arthroplasty. After shoulder arthroplasty, patients returned to some sports activities, such as swimming, tennis, golf, leg sports, skiing, and so on.

This systematic review showed significantly high RTS rates, levels, and number of patients among different arthroplasty types, such as total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) and reversed total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA). The most prevalent sport was swimming among patients. We hope this comprehensive systematic review provides insight into coaches and trainers to help patients increase their quality of life and have successful RTS after shoulder arthroplasty.