Glenoid labrum articular disruption in a six-year-old child: A case report

Traumatic anterior shoulder instability is a rare occurrence in the childhood. While glenoid labrum articular disruption itself is an uncommon condition that accompanies shoulder instability in the contact athletes, the occurrence of such lesion in a child is of extreme rarity. To the best of our knowledge, this case is the first to be reported at such a young age.

A six-year-old female child is presented to the clinic with a painful left shoulder and limited range of motion after a fall which was abruptly prevented by the father; hence, the child was grabbed by the arm, leaving the body to pivot around the shoulder at full force in an abduction external rotation position. Radiological studies revealed anteroinferior osteochondral fragment and a matching glenoid defect. Open surgery was performed, and the osteochondral fragment with the attached labrum was fixed using smooth K-wires.

Although rare, shear fractures of the anterior glenoid associated with chondral damage are possible in early childhood. However, it demands a forceful burst of abduction external rotation force which could have been avoided if the child was left to fall. The use of two K-wires via an open deltopectoral approach achieved excellent results with minimum cartilage damage.