Axillary artery injury secondary to inferior shoulder dislocation

Dislocation injuries of the glenohumeral joint are common in the general public and generally are corrected without complication. One serious complication with shoulder dislocations, or the subsequent reduction, is a lesion to the axillary artery. This specific complication is most frequently seen in the elderly population, where vascular structures have become less flexible. Also, these injuries are most common in association with anterior dislocations of the shoulder.

To bring awareness to the possibility of axillary artery injury with inferior dislocation of the shoulder, the treatment options, and a review.

We report a 15-year-old male athlete who inferiorly dislocated his shoulder during wrestling practice. The injury was reduced at the scene with manual traction and the patient was transferred to our clinic for evaluation. The patient was determined to have a pseudoaneurysm of the axillary artery, and the history and treatment of the illness are presented.

Axillary artery injuries secondary to shoulder dislocations are rare, especially in the young athlete, and proper recognition and treatment offer patients a full recovery.