Recurrent Dislocation of the Shoulder

This paper is based on a review of 180 cases of recurrent dislocation of the shoulder joint occurring in ground staff and air crew members of the Royal Air Force in the six-year period 1940 to 1945. During this period a total of 159 operations was performed for the relief of this disability. The task of analysing such a series has been facilitated by the fact that in a relatively small orthopaedic service such as was developed in the Royal Air Force under the direction of Sir Reginald Watson-Jones, orthopaedic surgeons were well known to each other and had frequent opportunities of discussing together all aspects of their work; and furthermore, by the standardised and very detailed system of case-recording which was in use at all the orthopaedic centres. These factors may reasonably be held to have safeguarded the accuracy of the findings here presented, and to render valid any conclusions based upon them. In recent years the main interest of recurrent dislocation of the shoulder has centred round its pathology, mechanism of production, and operative treatment, and it is with these aspects of the problem that the present study is concerned.