Why Do Shoulder Replacements Only Last 10 Years?

I’m happy to tell you that contemporary shoulder replacements last way longer than ten years.

The older style implants that were put in 15 to 20 years ago, yes, because of the plastic used, the design of the implants, and a myriad of other factors. There was around a ten-year survival.

But with the newer implants, designs, techniques, and technologies, when we look at our current data and trajectories, these should last 15 to 20 years. I actually think they could even last longer than that.

But we can tell right now, around 15 to 20 years with the current contemporary implant. Old implants that were put in 15, 20 years ago, some of them have ten year survivals, but that’s not not the case nowadays. We’re way, way better than we were.