End stage shoulder arthritis is reliably treated with shoulder arthroplasty. The shoulder is the third most common joint in the body that is replaced. The incidence of shoulder arthroplasty procedures (including hemiarthroplasty, total shoulder arthroplasty and reverse shoulder arthroplasty) is increasing steadily in the United States.10 In 1998 approximately 19,000 shoulder arthroplasty procedures were performed. In 2008 approximately 47,000 shoulder arthroplasty procedures were performed. The incidence of total shoulder arthroplasty has steadily outpaced that of hemiarthroplasty as the preferred choice for management of osteoarthritis. The Reverse shoulder arthroplasty was approved by the FDA in 2003 and since then has steadily gained in popularity. As the elderly population continues to grow and arthroplasty techniques evolve, the number of shoulder arthroplasty performed annually is expected to continue to increase.