Avulsion fractures of the scapula

Fractures of the scapula due to direct violence are relatively common. Wilber and Evans [18] reported 40 scapular fractures and reviewed the literature. All those injured had received direct trauma to the shoulder and they were able to divide their cases into two groups, based on anatomical location and functional results. Scapular fractures due to avulsion of the muscular attachments are uncommon and, as reports of these injuries in the literature are usually confined to single cases, no classification has been established which takes account of the anatomical sites at which these fractures occur and the mechanism of injury involved. In this paper the more common sites of avulsion injury of the scapula are described and illustrated by case reports. In several of these the skeletal injury resulted from muscle contraction against a resisted force on the upper limb during the course of an accident. This mechanism has been implicated in fractures of the coracoid and acromion, but is shown in this paper to contribute to other avulsion fractures.