Tendon Transfers With a Reverse Arthroplasty: When and How?


Introduction

Since the introduction of reverse shoulder arthroplasty in the 1980s, the treatment of rotator cuff dysfunction has been completely revolutionized. It has allowed improved functional results, as well as an improved quality of life for patients with rotator cuff insufficiency. Previously, those symptomatic patients could only be treated surgically with expectation of a rather limited outcome. Nowadays, reverse shoulder arthroplasty may be indicated for numerous reasons: rotator cuff insufficiency, rotator cuff arthropathy, proximal humerus fractures and fracture sequelae, rheumatoid arthritis, pathologic glenoid morphology, and any kind of revision surgery.

In patients with a rotator cuff insufficiency, the glenohumeral joint can become uncompensated. Depending on the number of the involved insufficient rotator cuff tendons, the shoulder range of motion is impacted in the sagittal and/or vertical plane. Because the shoulder joint is unbalanced in its natural state in both the vertical plane (deltoid stronger than the rotator cuff muscles) and the horizontal plane (four internal rotators stronger than two external rotators), this only becomes worse with aging. The aging shoulder often shows rotator cuff tendon wear, mostly including the supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendons first. That leads to unopposed cranial pull, creating an unbalanced shoulder in the vertical plane ( Fig. 41.1 ). Because the humeral head continues to rise, this creates a cascade of glenohumeral destruction that can be followed by the Hamada classification of rotator cuff arthropathy. Patients with an isolated loss of active elevation or a so-called pseudo paralysis, which describes the painless inability to abduct the arm to 90 degrees while maintaining a normal passive range of motion in the absence of neurologic impairment ( Fig. 41.2 ), are best treated with a reverse shoulder arthroplasty. Reverse shoulder arthroplasty moves the center of rotation distally and medially, allowing the deltoid to effectively transmit moments across the glenohumeral joint and thereby allowing improved forward flexion in a predictable fashion and a rebalancing of the vertical plane of motion.

FIG. 41.1, Force across the shoulder, which predisposes the shoulder to vertical imbalance. Red arrows show the cranial force of the deltoid muscle. Blue arrow shows the force of the rotator cuff muscles to balance the shoulder, and in case of insufficiency, the resulting strength is cranial and leads to pseudo paralysis. The asterisks demonstrate the progressive cartilage wear leading to rotator cuff arthropathy over time.

FIG. 41.2, Complete vertical imbalance with the inability of active forward flexion of the patient’s shoulder (pseudoparalysis).

As the arthropathy worsens, the infraspinatus and teres minor (if atrophic or in some cases torn) can become insufficient, resulting in a horizontal imbalance ( Fig. 41.3A,B ). This causes profound disability that reverse shoulder arthroplasty alone may not sufficiently address. This pattern may result in a combined loss of active elevation and external rotation (CLEER) and rarely may just be found to be an isolated loss of external rotation.

FIG. 41.3, (A and B) The predilection of internal rotation in the shoulder (4 external rotators vs. 2 internal rotators). 1 = Latissimus dorsi; 2 = Teres major; 3 = Subscapularis; 4 = Pectoralis major; 5 = Infraspinatus; 6 = Teres minor.

The shoulder itself has a natural predominance to internal rotation (IR) if each function of traversing muscle is reviewed. There are four internal rotators (the pectoralis major, the latissimus dorsi, the teres major, and the subscapularis), whereas there are only two external rotators (the teres minor and the infraspinatus). In the setting of a posterior cuff tear, it is easy to understand how a horizontal imbalance can occur with disruption or partial disruption of either of these external rotators. However, even in the setting of a two-tendon rupture, the teres minor—the dominant external rotator providing up to 40% of strength of external rotation—can experience atrophy in 24% of the cases, further reducing its ability to balance the shoulder. The loss of these muscles creates an environment of four stout internal rotators versus zero. Thus, a rebalancing of the shoulder is imperative in this setting.

In patients with a pseudo paralysis, who additionally have a horizontal imbalance as a consequence of their teres minor and infraspinatus insufficiency (patients with CLEER), activities of daily living are often drastically impacted. The ADLER (activities of daily living [ADL] that require active external rotation [ER]) score was suggested as an objective method to score a patient’s disability by judging their ability to perform everyday tasks, which are dependent on the external rotation of the shoulder ( Table 41.1 , Fig. 41.4 ). Simple tasks, such as shaving, brushing teeth or combing hair, eating, drinking, or opening doors, are classically affected. Therefore in patients with this dysfunction, a tendon transfer in conjunction with the reverse shoulder arthroplasty is indicated.

TABLE 41.1
Adler scoring system
Item Task Total Points
1 Comb hair /3
2 Shave or apply makeup /3
3 Dress (i.e, put on a shirt or a coat without help) /3
4 Fill a glass with a full bottle (being seated at the table) /3
5 Drink (bring a full glass to the mouth) /3
6 Eat soup (with a full spoon) /3
7 Eat with a fork /3
8 Shake someone’s hand or open a door /3
9 Use a phone (at ear level) /3
10 Write a letter (or sign a paper or typewriter or play the piano) /3
Total /30
∗Scoring scheme: 0 = unable to do; 1 = very difficult to do; 2 = somewhat difficult to do; 3 = not difficult at all.
All activities should be performed without the help of flexing the neck or bending the trunk and without the help of first abducting the elbow (i.e., without doing a Hornblower’s test).
The ADLER (activities of daily living [ADL] that require active external rotation [ER]) score can help objectively quantify the dysfunction patients experience from loss of external rotation.

FIG. 41.4, (A and B) Demonstrate the position of the latissimus dorsi/teres major tendons before transfer (A) and after transfer (B) and post-transfer latissimus dorsi tendon only.

In 1934, L’Episcopo first described the technique of transfer of the latissimus dorsi and teres major (LD/TM) tendons in children with obstetric palsy. The procedure involves transferring both tendons laterally and posteriorly on the humerus, such that the function of the LD/TM changes from internal to external rotation ( Fig. 41.4A,B ). The technique was modified so that it could be performed through a single deltopectoral approach. In the literature, this technique has been established as a viable treatment option for these patients. Alternatively, it is also possible to perform a latissimus dorsi transfer combined with a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty using a two-incision technique with results similar to those described by Gerber et al. In a variation of these two known and established techniques, a latissimus dorsi transfer only through a single-incision technique was recently performed by the authors with equal restoration of the external rotation and even with better IR ability. In the following section, the single-incision modified L’Episcopo (LD/TM) and the single-incision LD transfer only as a variation are described.

Procedure

This combined procedure involves performing a reverse shoulder arthroplasty with the addition of an LD/TM transfer. The tendons are harvested and passed from medial to lateral posteriorly behind the humeral diaphysis during reverse shoulder arthroplasty.

A variation is the single-incision latissimus dorsi transfer.

Instead of harvesting both the LD and the TM, only the LD is detached from the humerus in a sharp manner and passed around the humerus to the posterior side of the greater tuberosity (near the insertion of the teres minor).

Patient History

  • Pain, usually with attempted lifting and at night

  • Inability to raise arm

  • Problems related to loss of external rotation:

    • Moving hand behind head

    • Reaching mouth

    • Grooming

    • Dressing

    • Writing

See Fig. 41.5 .

FIG. 41.5, Patients will lose spatial control of their hand and be totally unable to raise their arm behind their head, necessitating creative methods to accomplish routine tasks.

Patient Examination

  • Often anterosuperior escape of the humeral head

  • Loss of active forward flexion

  • External rotation lag sign

  • Positive drop arm sign

  • Hornblower’s sign

See Figs. 41.6 and 41.7 .

FIG. 41.6, Loss of the teres minor and spatial control of the hand requires abduction of the shoulder to reach the mouth.

FIG. 41.7, Inability to externally rotate past neutral is a significant sign of external rotator pathology.

imaging

  • Decreased acromiohumeral distance on radiographs

  • Teres minor atrophy, complete rupture, or fatty infiltration on advanced imaging studies obtained by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging

See Figs. 41.8–41.10 .

FIG. 41.10, Computed tomographic axial cuts demonstrate complete rupture, fatty infiltration, and retraction of the teres minor.

FIG. 41.8, Decreased acromiohumeral head distance (AHD).

FIG. 41.9, Magnetic resonance imaging parasagittal cuts demonstrate atrophy and fatty infiltration of the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor muscles.

Treatment Options: Nonoperative and Operative

  • Nonoperative:

    • Physical therapy: strengthening of the leftover rotator cuff and the accessory muscles of the shoulder

    • Corticosteroid injections/nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs to decrease pain

    • Activity modification or cessation

  • Operative:

    • In functional shoulders and/or low-demand patients with mostly pain, a subacromial debridement and biceps tenotomy or tenodesis is indicated.

    • Isolated LD/TM (or LT alone) transfer if well compensated in the vertical plane respecting the contraindications (e.g., irreparable subscapularis tear, Hamada stage 4)

    • Reverse shoulder arthroplasty with LD/TM (or LD alone) tendon transfer in patients with CLEER

Surgical Anatomy

  • Deltoid

  • Pectoralis major

  • Long head of the biceps

  • Latissimus dorsi

  • Teres major

  • Radial nerve

Surgical Indications

  • CLEER

  • Clinically, the aforementioned signs are seen (positive drop arm sign).

  • Teres minor/infraspinatus rupture, atrophy, or severe fatty infiltration

  • Hamada stage 3 or higher

Surgical Technique Setup

Positioning

  • Beach chair position

  • Operative extremity free

  • Scapula free from operative table

Possible Pearls

  • Be sure after beach chair positioning that head is clear from shoulder.

  • Arm must be free so that assistant can hold and move the arm throughout the operation.

  • Space behind the operative shoulder must be free to allow for extension and adduction of the arm to dislocate the extremity and perform humeral preparation.

Possible Pitfalls

  • Headholder blocking instrumentation owing to close proximity

  • If arm cannot be fully extended/adducted, humeral dislocation, canal preparation, and dissection of the LD/TM will become more difficult.

Equipment

  • Beach chair operative bed

  • Reverse shoulder prosthesis – (Tornier AEQUALIS ASCEND FLEX Reversed Shoulder System; Wright Medical, Bloomington, MN)

  • Shoulder retractors (author prefers Richardson, Hohmann, forked retractors)

  • Multicolored nonabsorbable sutures for tendon tagging (ETHIBOND 7-0; Ethicon/Johnson & Johnson, Somerville, NJ)

  • Curved clamp

  • Cannulated drill for LD transfer only

See Fig. 41.11 .

FIG. 41.11, Typical operating room setup with arm draped free and appropriate posterior access to the shoulder.

Surgical Exposure/Portals

  • Single-incision deltopectoral approach

Short description of the surgical exposure:

A standard deltopectoral approach is used, with a skin incision of 10–12 cm based proximally over the coracoid process and extending distally in line with the anterior border of the deltoid muscle. The cephalic vein is identified and retracted laterally. The humerus is exposed, and the pectoralis major tendon is identified.

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