Chronic unreduced shoulder dislocations: Experience in a developing country trauma centre

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Traumatology
• Sports Medicine

Background:

• Chronic shoulder dislocation is an uncommon condition.
• Understanding its epidemiology and treatment outcomes is crucial for patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the epidemiology of chronic shoulder dislocation.
• To evaluate the outcomes of operative versus non-operative treatment.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of nine chronic anterior shoulder dislocation cases over six years.
• Data collected included bio-demographics, injury mechanisms, reduction/stabilization methods, and follow-up duration.
• Rowe shoulder score used for clinical evaluation, with Mann-Whitney U test for statistical analysis.

Main Results:

• Seven out of nine patients were male, with a mean age of 42 years.
• Common injury mechanisms included road traffic crashes and domestic falls.
• Operative management yielded significantly better outcomes (higher Rowe scores) compared to non-operative management, although some operated cases still had fair to poor grades.

Conclusions:

• Operative treatment appears more effective for chronic anterior shoulder dislocations than non-operative methods.
• Early supervised physiotherapy and meticulous soft tissue repair are important for favorable outcomes.