ABSTRACT
In recent times, there is little information in the literature to guide surgical treatment of the shoulder in patients with inflammatory arthritis. The spectrum of pathology is broad ranging from occasional mild synovitis that is well controlled by oral medications to severe shoulder dysfunction with bone deficiency. This wide range of pathology creates difficulty in assessing the effectiveness of surgical intervention. Although many disease processes cause synovitis of the shoulder, the most commonly encountered stem is from rheumatoid arthritis and will be the focus of this chapter.
