This prospective multicentre study reports mid-term outcomes of the Affinis Short stemless shoulder prosthesis, the first stemless design using a ceramic-on-polyethylene bearing. It asks whether a canal-sparing stemless implant delivers durable clinical and radiological results at a minimum 4-year follow-up. 207 patients treated with either total shoulder arthroplasty or hemiarthroplasty were tracked with the Constant–Murley Score, revision rate, and radiolucent lines.
When you counsel a patient for shoulder arthroplasty, the indication drives the expected result more than the implant type. Primary OA reliably gives the best Constant Score gains; fracture sequelae give the worst, so set expectations accordingly.
Stemless fixation is a bone-preservation strategy. By transferring load across a short metaphyseal interface, it avoids the calcar stress shielding that stemmed implants cause (41% BMD loss vs 0%), which matters if revision is ever needed.
The ceramic head is the novel element here, chosen to cut polyethylene wear debris (26% less than metal-on-poly in simulator testing). At mid-term it performed safely with no head breakage, but wear advantages remain unproven clinically.
Watch the rotator cuff. It was the leading cause of revision at 2.9%, reminding you that soft-tissue failure, not the implant, limits anatomic arthroplasty longevity.
This prospective multicentre study reports mid-term outcomes of the Affinis Short stemless shoulder prosthesis, the first stemless design using a ceramic-on-polyethylene bearing. It asks whether a canal-sparing stemless implant delivers durable clinical and radiological results at a minimum 4-year follow-up. 207 patients treated with either total shoulder arthroplasty or hemiarthroplasty were tracked with the Constant–Murley Score, revision rate, and radiolucent lines.
When you counsel a patient for shoulder arthroplasty, the indication drives the expected result more than the implant type. Primary OA reliably gives the best Constant Score gains; fracture sequelae give the worst, so set expectations accordingly.
Stemless fixation is a bone-preservation strategy. By transferring load across a short metaphyseal interface, it avoids the calcar stress shielding that stemmed implants cause (41% BMD loss vs 0%), which matters if revision is ever needed.
The ceramic head is the novel element here, chosen to cut polyethylene wear debris (26% less than metal-on-poly in simulator testing). At mid-term it performed safely with no head breakage, but wear advantages remain unproven clinically.
Watch the rotator cuff. It was the leading cause of revision at 2.9%, reminding you that soft-tissue failure, not the implant, limits anatomic arthroplasty longevity.