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Acute Posterior Dislocations and Posterior Fracture–Dislocations of the Shoulder

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Sports Injuries

Abstract

Posterior shoulder dislocations and fracture–dislocations are very uncommon injuries, predominantly affecting middle-aged men, with the latter injury being presented more rarely. It should be considered that the majority of cases are difficult to diagnose on initial examination. Clinical presentation and radiographic imaging are important and helpful tools to identify the lesion. Another helpful tool is the computed tomography (CT) scan, not only to support and confirm the diagnosis, but also to assist the choice of the most appropriate treatment (Hawkins et al. 1987).

The type of injury, any recurrence, the patient’s medical condition and age, and the functional demands will dictate the appropriate treatment. It is well-known that this lesion is very rare and thus large, multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trials are required in order to define the best therapeutic approaches for this type of injury.

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Correspondence to George M. Kontakis .

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Kontakis, G.M., Stavrakakis, I.M., Sperelakis, I.V. (2014). Acute Posterior Dislocations and Posterior Fracture–Dislocations of the Shoulder. In: Doral, M., Karlsson, J. (eds) Sports Injuries. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_24-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36801-1_24-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-36801-1

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