Pyrocarbon Hemiarthroplasty Versus Total Shoulder Arthroplasty for the Treatment of Glenohumeral Osteoarthritis

February 17, 2026 updated by: Benjamin Zmistowski, Washington University School of Medicine

Hemiarthroplasty Versus Total Shoulder Arthroplasty for the Treatment of Glenohumeral Osteoarthritis: The Impact of Modern Implant Options

This is a multi-center study assessing postoperative outcomes associated with hemiarthroplasty with pyrocarbon (hPYC) versus anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (aTSA). Once eligibility criteria is met, the subject will be randomized to one of the two study arms. Subjects will be followed for ten years. Clinical and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) will be assessed.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
74

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Missouri
      • St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
        • Washington University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Fluent in English language
  2. Willing to sign an informed consent form
  3. Willing to comply with all study procedures and be available for the duration of the study
  4. Age 40 to 65 years
  5. In good general health as evidenced by medical history
  6. Surgical indication of glenohumeral osteoarthritis 7. In the opinion of the surgeon, there is clinical equipoise for the subject to be implanted with a humeral hemiarthroplasty with pyrocarbon or anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Presence of Walch Type C or D glenoid
  2. Presence of a glenoid that could not be reconstructed with the anatomic glenoid resurfacing components
  3. Presence of extreme preoperative glenoid deformity including uniplanar retroversion deformity >30 o or severe biplanar deformity (retroversion >20 o and inclination > 10 o).
  4. Workers' compensation case
  5. Presence of full-thickness rotator cuff tear
  6. Known allergic reactions to components of the study product(s)
  7. History of consistent narcotic use within three months of surgery
  8. History of chronic oral corticosteroid use
  9. History or current drug or alcohol abuse
  10. In the surgeon's opinion, the subject will be non-compliant with the study protocol.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Hemiarthroplasty with pyrocarbon
Device: Hemiarthroplasty with pyrocarbon
Hemiarthroplasty with pyrocarbon
Active Comparator: Anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty
Device: Anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty
Anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation score
Time Frame: 2-years
Assess shoulder pain and function. The score ranges from 0 to 100 with higher scores indicating a better shoulder function and less pain.
2-years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
American Shoulder and Elbow Visual Analog Pain Score
Time Frame: 2-weeks, 3-months, 6-months, 1-year, 2-years, 5-years, 10-years
Assess pain relief. Range: 0-10. Zero is equivalent to no pain and 10 indicates the worst possible pain
2-weeks, 3-months, 6-months, 1-year, 2-years, 5-years, 10-years
Forgotten Joint score
Time Frame: 2-weeks, 3-months, 6-months, 1-year, 2-years, 5-years, 10-years
Assess shoulder function. The total score ranges from 0 to 100 with higher scores indicating a high degree of forgetting the artificial joint.
2-weeks, 3-months, 6-months, 1-year, 2-years, 5-years, 10-years
Range of motion
Time Frame: 2-weeks, 3-months, 6-months, 1-year, 2-years, 5-years, 10-years
Assess shoulder motion. Subjects will have their shoulder range of motion measured in degrees.
2-weeks, 3-months, 6-months, 1-year, 2-years, 5-years, 10-years
Assess rates of glenoid erosion
Time Frame: 2-years, 5-years, 10-years
Assess rates of glenoid erosion associated with pyrocarbon hemiarthroplasty
2-years, 5-years, 10-years
Assess rates of aseptic glenoid loosening
Time Frame: 2-years, 5-years, 10-years
Assess rates of aseptic glenoid loosening associated with anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty
2-years, 5-years, 10-years
Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation Score
Time Frame: 5-years, 10-years
Assess shoulder pain and function. The score ranges from 0 to 100 with higher scores indicating a better shoulder function and less pain.
5-years, 10-years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Washington University School of Medicine

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Benjamin Zmistowski, MD, Washington University School of Medicine

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 3, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 1, 2039

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
February 1, 2040

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 3, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 7, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 10, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 19, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 17, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 202501233

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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