Shoulderprosthesis.com

As far as we know, the first shoulder prosthesis was implanted by the french surgeon J.E. Pean in 1893 in Paris. This prostheses was formed out of gum and platinium. Due to a chronic infection it had to be removed two years later. A second attempt was made by F. Koenig in 1914. His shoulder prosthesis was formed out of ivory. 60 years with no further implantations followed.

In 1951 and 1952 shoulder prostheses made from resin ( Boron, Sevin, Judet ) and formed out of vitallium ( Krueger ) were developed. At the same time Charles S. Neer II. developed the modern monoblock prosthesis. Even today the Mark II model, which Neer developed at the beginning 70th is still used. A few years later the Mark II model was completed by the creation of a polyethylen glenoid socket. In Europe ( Scales and Lettin 1969, Reeves and Jobbins 1971, Zippel 1972, Kölbel 1972, Kessel 1973 ) as well as in the United States ( Neer and others ) developed different designs for shoulder prosthesis. Because of a high rate of loosening ( up to 50% ), there was no big interest in the implantation of shoulder prostheses. It is owing to Charles Neer that the implantation of shoulder prostheses got more and more important again, due to the use of the unconstrained construction.

The first modular shoulder prostheses came at the end of the 80th on the market. There was no more an identic head and glenoid radius used, but the mismatched glenoid ( different radius between humerus and glenoid ).

The first prostheses of the third generation - called the Aequalis prosthesis - was designed by Ph. Beaulois and G. Walch in France. It is characteristic for those third generation prostheses, that they imitate the 3D bony anatomical parameters of the shoulder.

All those developments lead to the fact that today about 95% of the shoulder prostheses are intact after 10 years and about 80% still work after 15 years.