Abstract: Traditionally, anatomical total shoulder arthroplasty has been used to treat the 
shoulder joint with end-stage glenohumeral osteoarthritis and an intact rotator cuff. Shoulder 
hemiarthroplasty was choice of treatment for patients without a rotator cuff or with rotator 
cuff tear arthropathy, assuring unpredictable pain relief and questionable improvement in 
range of motion or function. The number of shoulder replacements performed each year 
continues to increase, and the need for revision replacements has grown accordingly. The 
outcome of a revision shoulder procedures may influence which primary prosthesis is selected 
and the appropriate timing of primary arthroplasty. The demand for shoulder replacements 
continues to rise last decades according to broaden indications for the surgery and technical 
innovation. Aging population contribute to an increase in the number of replacements 
performed each year. Innitially, the reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) has been 
introduced in 1987 by Grammont et al.[1] with purpose to treat rotator cuff tear 
arthropathy. Since US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval in 2004 the number of 
RTSAs performed annually increased dramatically [2]. According to Kim et al. [2] in 2007 in 
the USA approximately 10 000 RTSAs were performed, which is a fivefold increase over 
2004. The goal of our study is to analyze tendency of this surgical procedure and to compare 
our arthroplasty trends to the literature data.
Keywords: shoulder arthroplasty, proximal humeral fracture, reverse total shoulder 
arthroplasty 

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