Surgical treatment of sprengel's deformity: a modified Green procedure

Twelve cases of Sprengel's deformity were treated surgically by a modification of Green's procedure. After clavicular osteotomy, all muscular attachments to the scapula were freed; an omovertebral band if present was cut and the scapula was rotated and moved caudal to a more normal position, to be sutured into a pocket of the latissimus dorsi. The patients included 10 female and 2 male patients (age range at the time of operation: 3 to 9 years; mean: 5.2 years). The deformity involved the left shoulder in 8 patients, the right shoulder in 4. All patients were followed for an average of 2 years (range: 6 months to 4.5 years). The range of flexion improved from an average of 95 degrees to 105 degrees and the range of abduction from an average of 81 degrees to 97 degrees. Cosmesis was improved in all 12 patients but three patients had an unsightly surgical scar. Surgical treatment by a modified Green procedure for patients with Sprengel's deformity is indicated when the patient and family want cosmetic or functional improvement.