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Table 1
Procedures, advantages, and disadvantages for various surgical treatment modalities for severe osteoarthritis and rotator cuff disease
Surgical procedure	Advantages	Disadvantages

Osteoarthritis care
Arthroscopic debridement ± capsular release [18,19]	Low morbidity, low complication rate	Less predictable outcome
	Joint preserving
	Simple rehabilitation

Humeral head resurfacing with biologic interposition [21-23]	Avoids glenoid prosthesis	Mixed results
	Obviates concerns over glenoid loosening over time	Less predictable pain relief
	Theoretically, preserves bone stock for future reconstructive options	Revision surgery in event of failure

Hemiarthroplasty [28,33-36]	Avoids glenoid prosthesis	Less predictable pain relief
	Obviates concerns over glenoid loosening over time	Increased time to maximal improvement
	Shorter operation room time	Lower survival rate
		Risk of glenoid bone loss over time
		Revision surgery in event of failure

Total shoulder replacement [19,35,36]	Predictable pain relief	Risk of glenoid loosening
	Predictable functional improvement
	Proven longevity

Cartilage repair or grafting techniques [66,69,94]	Joint preserving	No long-term outcome result
	Avoids or postpones arthroplasty procedure	Indicated in limited population, that is, young individuals with isolated defects

Rotator cuff disease care
Rotator cuff repair [20,40-42,55,57,59]	Favorable long-term outcome	Long recovery
	Restores normal anatomy	Tendon healing unpredictable
	Pain relief
	Theoretically, protective against further degenerative changes in muscle and tendon

Debridement/biceps tenotomy/acromioplasty [95,96]	Indicated primarily for irreparable tear	Less predictable results
	Pain relief	Further degenerative changes to bone and soft tissue structures possible
	Lower morbidity than muscle transfer or arthroplasty

Muscle transfer [97]	Salvage procedure for irreparable cuff	Limited indications
	Potentially restores strength	Mixed results
	Pain relief	Long recovery period

Reverse shoulder arthroplasty [15,38,39]	Salvage procedure for irreparable tear	Higher morbidity and complication rate
	Pain relief	Limited indications, that is, older patients
	Restores function

Killian et al. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2012 14:214 doi:10.1186/ar3846

Table 1