[Shoulder injuries in Alpine skiing]

Considering the injuries of the shoulder girdle, cases with ski-injuries admitted to the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Hospital in the past ten years were analyzed. Frequency, age structure and distribution were explored and an attempt was made to connect the mechanisms of trauma with the kind of injury, regarding particularly the ski-specific factors. In the course of the past ten years an increasing relative frequency of dislocations of the shoulder was observed. In elder patients the fractures of the proximal humerus are more frequent, whereas fractures of the clavicle are more frequent in children.