[A painless technique for reposition of anterior shoulder dislocation]

Acute shoulder dislocation is a common injury and characterized by an extremely painful lack of motion. The treatment objective after diagnosis is immediate reduction avoiding additional pain and complications. Various techniques have been described for more than 2000 years mostly using traction-countertraction, particularly combined with special positioning and leverage maneuvers. We report a reduction technique which is performed by a single person with the patient sitting on a chair and the physician standing behind him at the affected side. Positioning one fist in the anterior part of the axillary fossa for countertraction but avoiding direct pressure into the axillary fossa, the other hand uses traction grasping the patient's forearm. Only gentle traction is maintained until muscle relaxation is achieved and reduction mostly happens in this moment. Otherwise slow external rotation of the fist placed in the axilla can relieve reduction pushing the humeral head laterally. Additional leverage maneuvers are not necessary. This technique was successful in 98 of 108 (90.7%) patients. Only in 16.3% was premedication (intravenous analgesics) used. In ten patients general anesthesia was required to achieve reduction. No complications occurred in any of the patients. The reported technique allows a gentle and painless reduction of acute anterior shoulder dislocation with a high success rate mostly avoiding premedication.