Classic Papers in Shoulder & Elbow

Pool built 2026-09-22 · All specialties

These are the 100 most-cited papers published in the Shoulder & Elbow journals, ranked by lifetime citations (via OpenAlex; retracted papers excluded). The daily digest draws its classic slot from this pool — subscribe to get one with your new articles, or browse the Shoulder & Elbow archive.

1. A standardized method for the assessment of shoulder function

   Robin R. Richards, Kai‐Nan An, Louis U. Bigliani et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1994 · cited 1,739 times

2. Prevalence and risk factors of a rotator cuff tear in the general population

   Atsushi Yamamoto, Kenji Takagishi, Toshihisa Osawa et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2009 · cited 1,431 times

3. Fatty degeneration of the muscles of the rotator cuff: Assessment by computed tomography versus magnetic resonance imaging

   Bruno Fuchs, Dominik Weishaupt, Marco Zanetti et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1999 · cited 1,425 times

4. Grammont reverse prosthesis: Design, rationale, and biomechanics

   Pascal Boileau, Duncan Watkinson, Armodios M. Hatzidakis et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2005 · cited 1,252 times

5. American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Standardized Shoulder Assessment Form, patient self-report section: Reliability, validity, and responsiveness

   Lori A. Michener, Philip McClure, Brian J. Sennett — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2002 · cited 1,126 times

6. Neer Award 2005: The Grammont reverse shoulder prosthesis: Results in cuff tear arthritis, fracture sequelae, and revision arthroplasty

   Pascal Boileau, Duncan Watkinson, Armodios M. Hatzidakis et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2006 · cited 1,124 times

7. Epidemiology of clavicle fractures

   F. Postacchini, Stefano Gumina, Pierfrancesco De Santis et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2002 · cited 1,005 times

8. Influence of cuff muscle fatty degeneration on anatomic and functional outcomes after simple suture of full-thickness tears

   D Goutallier, J.-M. Postel, P. Gleyze et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2003 · cited 981 times

9. Age-related prevalence of rotator cuff tears in asymptomatic shoulders

   Siegbert Tempelhof, Stefan Rupp, Romain Seil — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1999 · cited 937 times

10. Predictors of humeral head ischemia after intracapsular fracture of the proximal humerus

    R. Hertel, Axel Hempfing, Maik Stiehler et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2004 · cited 850 times

11. Prevalence and projections of total shoulder and elbow arthroplasty in the United States to 2015

    Judd S. Day, Edmund Lau, Kevin Ong et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2010 · cited 816 times

12. A review of the Constant score: Modifications and guidelines for its use

    C. R. Constant, Christian Gerber, Roger Emery et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2008 · cited 816 times

13. Comparison of the subjective shoulder value and the Constant score

    Michael K. Gilbart, Christian Gerber — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2007 · cited 807 times

14. Contact between the glenoid and the humeral head in abduction, external rotation, and horizontal extension: A new concept of glenoid track

    Nobuyuki Yamamoto, Eiji Itoi, Hidekazu Abe et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2007 · cited 763 times

15. Impingement of the deep surface of the supraspinatus tendon on the posterosuperior glenoid rim: An arthroscopic study

    Gilles Walch, Pascal Boileau, É. Noël et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1992 · cited 741 times

16. Direct 3-dimensional measurement of scapular kinematics during dynamic movements in vivo

    Philip McClure, Lori A. Michener, Brian J. Sennett et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2001 · cited 721 times

17. Tuberosity malposition and migration: Reasons for poor outcomes after hemiarthroplasty for displaced fractures of the proximal humerus

    Pascal Boileau, Sumant G. Krishnan, L. Tinsi et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2002 · cited 711 times

18. Stress shielding and bone resorption in shoulder arthroplasty

    Jochem Nagels, M. Stokdijk, Piet M. Rozing — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2003 · cited 709 times

19. Total shoulder arthroplasty with the neer prosthesis: Long-term results

    Michael E. Torchia, Robert H. Cofield, Curtis R Settergren — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1997 · cited 693 times

20. Minimal clinically important differences (MCID) and patient acceptable symptomatic state (PASS) for visual analog scales (VAS) measuring pain in patients treated for rotator cuff disease

    Robert Z. Tashjian, Julia Deloach, Christina A. Porucznik et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2009 · cited 679 times

21. Arthroscopic tenotomy of the long head of the biceps in the treatment of rotator cuff tears: Clinical and radiographic results of 307 cases

    Gilles Walch, T. Bradley Edwards, Aziz Boulahia et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2005 · cited 677 times

22. Natural history of asymptomatic rotator cuff tears: A longitudinal analysis of asymptomatic tears detected sonographically

    Ken Yamaguchi, A. Marc Tetro, Oren Blam et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2001 · cited 644 times

23. The incidence of shoulder arthroplasty: rise and future projections compared with hip and knee arthroplasty

    Eric R. Wagner, Kevin X. Farley, Ixavier A. Higgins et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2020 · cited 639 times

24. Psychometric properties of the shortened disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire (QuickDASH) and Numeric Pain Rating Scale in patients with shoulder pain

    Paul E. Mintken, Paul Glynn, Joshua A. Cleland — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2009 · cited 609 times

25. Cuff integrity after arthroscopic versus open rotator cuff repair: A prospective study

    Julie Y. Bishop, Steven Klepps, Ian K.Y. Lo et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2006 · cited 580 times

26. Long-term outcome of frozen shoulder

    Campbell Hand, K Clipsham, Jonathan Rees et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2007 · cited 556 times

27. Scapular notching in reverse shoulder arthroplasty

    Christophe Lévigne, Pascal Boileau, Luc Favard et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2008 · cited 536 times

28. Glenohumeral stability from concavity-compression: A quantitative analysis

    Steven B. Lippitt, Eric Vanderhooft, Scott Harris et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1993 · cited 516 times

29. An electromyographic analysis of the upper extremity in pitching

    Nick M. DiGiovine, Frank W. Jobe, Marilyn Pink et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1992 · cited 500 times

30. A multicenter, prospective, randomized, controlled trial of open reduction—internal fixation versus total elbow arthroplasty for displaced intra-articular distal humeral fractures in elderly patients

    Michael D. McKee, Christian Veillette, Jeremy Hall et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2008 · cited 493 times

31. Posterior Dislocation of the Elbow With Fractures of the Radial Head and Coronoid

    David Ring, Jesse B. Jupiter, Jeffrey L. Zilberfarb — J Bone Joint Surg Am · 2002 · cited 490 times

32. Increasing incidence of primary reverse and anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty in the United States

    Matthew J. Best, Keith T. Aziz, John H. Wilckens et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2020 · cited 486 times

33. Quantifying success after total shoulder arthroplasty: the minimal clinically important difference

    Ryan W. Simovitch, Pierre-Henri Flurin, Thomas W. Wright et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2017 · cited 480 times

34. Biomechanical relevance of glenoid component positioning in the reverse Delta III total shoulder prosthesis

    Richard W. Nyffeler, Clément M. L. Werner, Christian Gerber — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2005 · cited 476 times

35. An analysis of 140 injuries to the superior glenoid labrum

    Stephen J. Snyder, Michael P. Banas, Ronald P. Karzeł — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1995 · cited 471 times

36. Adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder: review of pathophysiology and current clinical treatments

    Hai Le, Stella Lee, Ara Nazarian et al. — Shoulder Elbow · 2016 · cited 470 times

37. Minimum fifteen-year follow-up of Neer hemiarthroplasty and total shoulder arthroplasty in patients aged fifty years or younger

    John W. Sperling, Robert H. Cofield, Charles M. Rowland — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2004 · cited 464 times

38. A modification to the Walch classification of the glenoid in primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis using three-dimensional imaging

    Michael J. Bercik, Kevin Kruse, Matthew Yalizis et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2016 · cited 456 times

39. Neer Award 1999: Overuse activity injures the supraspinatus tendon in an animal model: A histologic and biomechanical study

    Louis J. Soslowsky, Stavros Thomopoulos, Sovanrith Tun et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2000 · cited 451 times

40. Investigating minimal clinically important difference for Constant score in patients undergoing rotator cuff surgery

    Juha Kukkonen, Tommi Kauko, Tero Vahlberg et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2013 · cited 449 times

41. Platelet rich plasma in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: a prospective RCT study, 2-year follow-up

    Pietro Randelli, Paolo Arrigoni, Vincenza Ragone et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2011 · cited 447 times

42. Functional outcome after shoulder arthroplasty for primary osteoarthritis: A multicenter study

    Tom R. Norris, Joseph P. Iannotti — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2002 · cited 446 times

43. Development and use of an animal model for investigations on rotator cuff disease

    Louis J. Soslowsky, James E. Carpenter, C.M. DeBano et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1996 · cited 445 times

44. Total shoulder arthroplasty: Long-term survivorship, functional outcome, and quality of life

    Ashwin V. Deshmukh, Mark J. Koris, David Zurakowski et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2005 · cited 443 times

45. Grammont reverse total shoulder arthroplasty in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and nonreconstructible rotator cuff lesions

    Markus Rittmeister, F. Kerschbaumer — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2001 · cited 435 times

46. Qualitative clinical evaluation of scapular dysfunction: A reliability study

    W. Ben Kibler, Tim L. Uhl, Jackson W.Q. Maddux et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2002 · cited 433 times

47. Lag signs in the diagnosis of rotator cuff rupture

    R. Hertel, F.T. Ballmer, Simon Lambert et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1996 · cited 430 times

48. Glenoid size, inclination, and version: An anatomic study

    R. Sean Churchill, John J. Brems, Helmuth Kotschi — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2001 · cited 428 times

49. Long-term results of the Latarjet procedure for anterior instability of the shoulder

    Naoko Mizuno, Patrick J. Denard, Patric Raiss et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2014 · cited 426 times

50. Determining the minimal clinically important difference for the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, Simple Shoulder Test, and visual analog scale (VAS) measuring pain after shoulder arthroplasty

    Robert Z. Tashjian, Man Hung, Jay D. Keener et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2016 · cited 415 times

51. Current review of adhesive capsulitis

    Jason E. Hsu, Okechukwu A. Anakwenze, William J. Warrender et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2010 · cited 412 times

52. Part I: Footprint contact characteristics for a transosseous-equivalent rotator cuff repair technique compared with a double-row repair technique

    Maxwell C. Park, Neal S. ElAttrache, James E. Tibone et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2007 · cited 410 times

53. Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty for massive irreparable rotator cuff tears in patients younger than 65 years old: results after five to fifteen years

    Eugene T. Ek, Lisa Neukom, Sabrina Catanzaro et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2013 · cited 403 times

54. Internal fixation versus nonoperative treatment of displaced 3-part proximal humeral fractures in elderly patients: a randomized controlled trial

    Per Olerud, Leif Ahrengart, Sari Ponzer et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2011 · cited 403 times

55. Results of anatomic nonconstrained prosthesis in primary osteoarthritis with biconcave glenoid

    Gilles Walch, Claudio A. Moraga, Allan A. Young et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2012 · cited 396 times

56. Part II: Biomechanical assessment for a footprint-restoring transosseous-equivalent rotator cuff repair technique compared with a double-row repair technique

    Maxwell C. Park, James E. Tibone, Neal S. ElAttrache et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2007 · cited 391 times

57. Risks of loosening of a prosthetic glenoid implanted in retroversion

    Alain Farron, Alexandre Terrier, Philippe Büchler — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2006 · cited 385 times

58. Mode of failure for rotator cuff repair with suture anchors identified at revision surgery

    Craig A. Cummins, George A.C. Murrell — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2003 · cited 385 times

59. Diagnosis and treatment of anterosuperior rotator cuff tears

    Jon J.P. Warner, Laurence D. Higgins, Moby Parsons et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2001 · cited 385 times

60. Reverse shoulder arthroplasty versus hemiarthroplasty for acute proximal humeral fractures. A blinded, randomized, controlled, prospective study

    Emilio Sebastiá-Forcada, R. Cebrián-Gómez, Alejandro Lizaur-Utrilla et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2014 · cited 379 times

61. Frozen shoulder: a consensus definition

    Joseph D. Zuckerman, Andrew S. Rokito — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2010 · cited 379 times

62. Relationship between massive chronic rotator cuff tear pattern and loss of active shoulder range of motion

    Philippe Collin, Noboru Matsumura, Alexandre Lädermann et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2014 · cited 376 times

63. Effectiveness of physical therapy in treating atraumatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears: a multicenter prospective cohort study

    John E. Kuhn, Warren R. Dunn, Rosemary Sanders et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2013 · cited 364 times

64. Cemented polyethylene versus uncemented metal-backed glenoid components in total shoulder arthroplasty: A prospective, double-blind, randomized study

    Pascal Boileau, Cyril Avidor, Sumant G. Krishnan et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2002 · cited 364 times

65. Shoulder arthroplasty for the treatment of the sequelae of fractures of the proximal humerus

    Pascal Boileau, Christophe Trojani, Gilles Walch et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2001 · cited 363 times

66. Radiographic assessment of ingrowth total shoulder arthroplasty

    John Sperling, Robert H. Cofield, Shawn W. O’Driscoll et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2000 · cited 358 times

67. Propionibacterium acnes infection after shoulder arthroplasty: A diagnostic challenge

    Christopher C. Dodson, Edward V. Craig, Frank A. Cordasco et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2009 · cited 354 times

68. A comparison of hemiarthroplasty and total shoulder arthroplasty in the treatment of primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis: results of a multicenter study

    T. Bradley Edwards, Nimish R Kadakia, Aziz Boulahia et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2003 · cited 352 times

69. Subluxations and dislocations of the tendon of the long head of the biceps

    Gilles Walch, Laurent Nové-Josserand, Pascal Boileau et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1998 · cited 352 times

70. Correlation of atrophy and fatty infiltration on strength and integrity of rotator cuff repairs: A study in thirteen patients

    Christian Gerber, Alberto G. Schneeberger, Hans Hoppeler et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2007 · cited 346 times

71. Glenoid revision surgery after total shoulder arthroplasty

    Samuel Antuña, John W. Sperling, Robert H. Cofield et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2001 · cited 346 times

72. Neer Award 2008: Arthropathy after primary anterior shoulder dislocation–223 shoulders prospectively followed up for twenty-five years

    Lennart Hovelius, Modolv Saeboe — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2009 · cited 345 times

73. National utilization of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty in the United States

    William W. Schairer, Benedict U. Nwachukwu, Stephen Lyman et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2014 · cited 342 times

74. The role of mechanobiology in tendon healing

    Megan L. Killian, Leonardo Cavinatto, Leesa M. Galatz et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2012 · cited 339 times

75. Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty after failed rotator cuff surgery

    Pascal Boileau, Jean‐François Gonzalez, Christopher Chuinard et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2009 · cited 338 times

76. Normalization of the Constant score

    Leonid I. Katolik, Anthony A. Romeo, Brian J. Cole et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2005 · cited 338 times

77. Arthroscopic Latarjet procedure

    Laurent Lafosse, Simon Boyle — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2010 · cited 336 times

78. Treatment of clavicle fractures: current concepts review

    Olivier A. van der Meijden, Trevor R. Gaskill, Peter J. Millett — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2011 · cited 335 times

79. Anterosuperior impingement of the shoulder as a result of pulley lesions: a prospective arthroscopic study

    Peter Habermeyer, Petra Magosch, Maria Pritsch et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2004 · cited 335 times

80. Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction in athletes: Muscle-splitting approach without transposition of the ulnar nerve

    W. H. Thompson, Frank W. Jobe, Lewis A. Yocum et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2001 · cited 335 times

81. Characteristics of unsatisfactory shoulder arthroplasties

    Samer S. Hasan, Jordan Leith, Barry Campbell et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2002 · cited 330 times

82. Proprioception of the shoulder joint in healthy, unstable, and surgically repaired shoulders

    Scott M. Lephart, Jon J.P. Warner, Paul A. Borsa et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1994 · cited 329 times

83. The incidence of pathologic changes of the long head of the biceps tendon

    Anand M. Murthi, Craig L. Vosburgh, Thomas J. Neviaser — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2000 · cited 326 times

84. Defining functional shoulder range of motion for activities of daily living

    Surena Namdari, Gautam P. Yagnik, David Ebaugh et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2011 · cited 323 times

85. Conservative treatment of fractures at the middle third of the clavicle: The relevance of shortening and clinical outcome

    Stefanos Lazarides, George Zafiropoulos — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2006 · cited 320 times

86. Arthroscopic classification and treatment of lateral epicondylitis: Two-year clinical results

    Champ L. Baker, Kevin P. Murphy, Charles A. Gottlob et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2000 · cited 320 times

87. Use of three-dimensional computed tomography for the analysis of the glenoid anatomy

    Young W. Kwon, Kimerly Powell, Jae Kwang Yum et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2005 · cited 319 times

88. Gentle thawing of the frozen shoulder: A prospective study of supervised neglect versus intensive physical therapy in seventy-seven patients with frozen shoulder syndrome followed up for two years

    Ron L. Diercks, Martin Stevens — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2004 · cited 317 times

89. Reasons for failure after surgical repair of anterior shoulder instability

    Mark Tauber, Herbert Resch, Rosemarie Forstner et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2004 · cited 312 times

90. Shoulder kinematics with two-plane x-ray evaluation in patients with anterior instability or rotator cuff tearing

    George A. Paletta, Jon J.P. Warner, Russell F. Warren et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1997 · cited 310 times

91. Outcome of lower trapezius transfer to reconstruct massive irreparable posterior-superior rotator cuff tear

    Bassem T. Elhassan, Eric R. Wagner, Jean-David Werthel — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2016 · cited 309 times

92. Periprosthetic infections after total shoulder arthroplasty: a 33-year perspective

    Jasvinder A. Singh, John W. Sperling, Cathy D. Schleck et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2012 · cited 309 times

93. Repair of distal biceps tendon rupture: A new technique using the endobutton

    Gregory I. Bain, Hari Prem, Ronald J. Heptinstall et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2000 · cited 309 times

94. Assessing the reliability and responsiveness of 5 shoulder questionnaires

    Dorcas Beaton, Robin R. Richards — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 1998 · cited 309 times

95. Optimizing stability in distal humeral fracture fixation

    Shawn W. O’Driscoll — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2005 · cited 308 times

96. One hundred eighteen Bristow-Latarjet repairs for recurrent anterior dislocation of the shoulder prospectively followed for fifteen years: Study I—clinical results

    Lennart Hovelius, Björn Sandström, Kent Sundgren et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2004 · cited 307 times

97. Subscapularis insufficiency and the risk of shoulder dislocation after reverse shoulder arthroplasty

    T. Bradley Edwards, Matthew D. Williams, Joanne E. Labriola et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2009 · cited 306 times

98. Stability and instability of the glenohumeral joint: The role of shoulder muscles

    Joanne E. Labriola, Thay Q. Lee, Richard E. Debski et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2005 · cited 305 times

99. Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: Prospective functional outcome and repair integrity at minimum 2-year follow-up

    Brian J. Cole, L. Pearce McCarty, Richard W. Kang et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2007 · cited 304 times

100. Long-term results with the Bankart and Bristow-Latarjet procedures: Recurrent shoulder instability and arthropathy

     Lennart Hovelius, Björn Sandström, Dan L. Rösmark et al. — J Shoulder Elbow Surg · 2001 · cited 304 times

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