Manual wheelchair use leads to a series of failed shoulder replacements: A case report and literature review

Abstract

Abstract Manual wheelchair users place high stress on their shoulders. We describe a 69‐year‐old male who developed end‐stage shoulder osteoarthritis from chronic manual wheelchair (MW) use. Three prosthetic total shoulder replacements failed, reflecting his refusal to transition to an electric wheelchair. MW use must be avoided in some of these patients.

Keywords

• electric wheelchair
• failed shoulder arthroplasty
• manual wheelchair
• reverse shoulder arthroplasty
• shoulder infection
• total shoulder arthroplasty