[Pre-hospital treatment of an anterior shoulder dislocation: medico-legal concerns]

A man of 23 years, diabetic of type 1, shows a functional handicap of the right upper limb following a convulsion in the context of hypoglycemia. On arrival of the "S.A.M.U.", the physician diagnoses an anterior shoulder dislocation that he decides to reduce on the spot after analgesic treatment. The X-ray examination at the emergency shows a reduction of the dislocation as well as a fracture of the greater tuberosity. Has the fracture followed the convulsion or the reduction movement ? The absence of an X-ray examination before the reduction movement presents a forensic medical problem. Certain criteria mentioned in several studies would allow the reduction without X-ray before. However, these studies remain controversial.