OBJECTIVE To present a clinical understanding of the role the scapula plays in the mechanics of shoulder function and specialized techniques for the rehabilitation of injuries around the shoulder girdle. BACKGROUND The scapular musculature is often neglected in the evaluation and treatment of shoulder injuries. This lack of attention often degenerates into the incomplete evaluation and rehabi...

Multiple pectoralis major tendon tears have been reported in the literature; however, isolated rupture of the pectoralis minor tendon is rare and has been reported 3 times (4 patients).This article describes a case of an isolated pectoralis minor tendon tear in a male high school football player after a traumatic injury. The patient was injured while making a tackle and leading with his arm and...

The Superior Shoulder Suspensory Complex (SSSC) comprises a bony and soft tissue ring including the clavicle, acromioclavicular (AC) joint, acromial process, glenoid fossa and process, coracoid process and coracoclavicular ligaments [1]. This complex is believed to have important biomechanical functions concerning shoulder stability and overall shoulder function, and connects the upper extremit...

Coracoid fractures are uncommon injuries, in isolation or in association with other osseoligamentous injuries about the shoulder girdle. We report a case of successful operative management of symptomatic ipsilateral nonunions of a type I coracoid base fracture and a lateral one-third clavicular fracture, which developed following nonoperative treatment of this exceedingly rare injury pattern. F...

CONTEXT Osseous injury to the glenoid is increasingly being recognized as one of the most important aspects in the successful management of recurrent shoulder instability. Proper early recognition of glenoid bone injury in the setting of recurrent instability will lead to successful nonoperative and operative decision making, particularly in the athletic patient. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION We condu...

INTRODUCTION Anterior shoulder dislocation can be associated with vascular and neurological complications. However, axillary artery injury associated with shoulder dislocation is rare and extremely rare without bone fracture. An early diagnosis of these complications allows predicting long-term functional outcomes. METHODS This article reports the case of a 66-year-old patient who presented a...

BACKGROUND Various approaches have been developed to treat the progressive shoulder deformity in patients with brachial plexus birth palsy. Reconstructive surgery for this condition consists of complex procedures with a risk for failure. CASE PRESENTATIONS This is a retrospective case review of the outcome in eight cases referred to us for reoperation for failed shoulder reconstructions. In e...

This paper is an investigation of low rate loading of the shoulder. The paper first presents a review of the literature on the impact tolerance of the shoulder in high and low rate loading conditions. Currently, there are no injury criteria, nor biofidelic anthropomorphic test dummies for these low rate scenarios. This study investigates dummy loading situations that are known to be non-injurio...

Several surgical techniques have been described for the treatment of posterior shoulder dislocation depending on the time elapsed between injury and surgery and the size of the humeral head impression fracture. When the bone defect is between 25% and 50% of the articular surface of the head, the procedures of choice are autologous bone graft or allograft or subscapularis tendon or lesser tubero...