General Information About Shoulder Dislocation
Disease Details and Frequently Asked Questions
It occurs when the ball-shaped head of the upper arm bone (humerus) pops entirely out of its shallow socket in the shoulder blade (glenoid) as a result of trauma or strain.
The shoulder joint is extremely flexible and possesses the highest range of motion (360 degrees) of any joint. However, as the cost of this freedom, the bony socket is very shallow and cannot securely wrap around the ball, making it highly susceptible to dislocation from trauma.
It presents as a visible deformity in the shoulder (squaring of the shoulder or the formation of a dimple), unbearable pain, and the complete inability to move the arm (the arm remains pressed against the torso).
Absolutely not. Attempts by untrained individuals to pull the shoulder back into place (reduction) can tear the main arteries, ligaments, and nerves passing around the shoulder, potentially leading to permanent paralysis.
The clinical picture is very obvious. A two-view X-ray taken in the emergency room determines whether the shoulder has dislocated anteriorly or posteriorly and checks if there is any accompanying bone fracture.
The initial dislocation is reduced into place by a physician under local or general anesthesia in the emergency room and is placed in a sling for 3 weeks. However, if the shoulder's labrum (cartilage gasket) is torn during the first dislocation (Bankart Lesion), the shoulder will repeatedly dislocate. In this case, the torn membrane is reattached to the bone using Arthroscopy (minimally invasive camera surgery).
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