Global trends and emerging themes in stemless shoulder arthroplasty: A 17-year bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND

Stemless shoulder arthroplasty (SSA), referring to stemless humeral fixation in anatomic and reverse designs, has emerged as a bone-preserving alternative to traditional stemmed implants, aiming to reduce complications such as periprosthetic fractures and stress shielding.

METHODS

A bibliometric analysis was conducted using the Scopus database from 2009 to March 3, 2026. Articles were screened using structured queries and filtered by document type. Key metadata, including authorship, institutional affiliation, country of origin, citation metrics, and keywords, were extracted. Visualization tools generated co-authorship networks.

RESULTS

A total of 366 SSA-related articles were identified, accumulating 5767 citations (15.76 citations per article) with a 14.5% annual growth rate in publication volume. The United States was the leading contributor (34% of publications) and also recorded the highest total citations (1427). The most productive institution was the University of Western Ontario (22 articles). Athwal GS was the most impactful author by productivity and h-index (h-index 10). The Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery was the leading source of publications (79) and citations (2178). Keyword analyses showed focus on shoulder arthroplasty, implant terms, range of motion, osteoarthritis, and age groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Stemless shoulder arthroplasty research is expanding globally, showing trends and need for studies in elderly patients.