Glenoid bone grafting with reverse total shoulder arthroplasty

Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty has demonstrated excellent results for patients with glenohumeral arthritis and a deficient rotator cuff. Patients requiring a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty with substantial glenoid erosion pose a difficult problem. The operative surgeon must correct the version of the glenoid while maintaining secure glenoid fixation. Techniques demonstrating this are currently lacking in the literature. We present a case of an elderly patient with glenoid erosion causing a significantly abnormal glenoid version. In this technique, the cut portion of the humeral head was utilized as bone graft. The head was shaped to restore the glenoid version, and the graft was held in place with glenoid insertion techniques. The patient described recovered quickly after the surgery, and she has demonstrated excellent results. These results are similar to those seen by the senior author while utilizing this technique. This is currently our preferred method of addressing glenoid version abnormalities in reverse total shoulder arthroplasty.