Return to Shooting Sports After Shoulder Surgery: An Expert Survey

The authors sent a 13-question web-based survey to all American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons members regarding a timeline of return to shooting sports after shoulder surgery and received 107 responses from all 50 states and eight from outside the United States. Of the respondents, 74.8% considered their rehabilitation protocol “conservative.” Surgeons who considered their rehabilitation protocol to be “aggressive” were more likely to return patients to shooting earlier after rotator cuff repair (p = 0.008), anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (p = 0.015), and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (p = 0.003). Most surgeons released their patients after 12 weeks. The majority (95.3%) of respondents were asked by patients about shooting after shoulder surgery. Longer duration of practice correlated significantly with the likelihood of being asked about shooting (p = 0.015). Most surgeons would release their patients to return to shooting sports 12 weeks after surgery. It is unknown how shooting affects implant fixation in vivo. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 33(4):225-227, 2024)

Key words: firearms, rehabilitation, return to sport, rotator cuff injuries, shoulder replacement arthroplasty