Locked Posterior Shoulder Dislocation with a Large Bone Defect in an Active Patient Treated with Autograft

Posterior glenohumeral joint dislocations are uncommon injuries. The disease often goes undiagnosed and untreated despite positive clinical signs. In the event of a large humeral bone defect, the outcome may be worse.

This case report presents a 47-year-old man with a 2-year-old locked posterior shoulder dislocation with a large segmental bone defect involving 40% of the humeral head's articular surface. We decided to treat the patient with an open reduction of the shoulder dislocation and reconstruction of the articular surface with iliac crest autograft. We observed an improvement in shoulder mobility and range of motion on all planes, which were beneficial to the patient's daily activities; at follow-up, no pain was reported.

Our case report demonstrates that locked posterior shoulder dislocations with a large bone defect and viable humeral head can be treated using an autograft. This will result in optimal clinical results and avoid early prosthetic replacement surgery. Autograft may be a preferred method in the presence of economic constraints or due to the unavailability of allografts or implants.