Case Report
Rare Inferior Shoulder Dislocation (Luxatio Erecta)
Hakan Cift,
1
Salih Soylemez,
2
Murat Demiroglu,
2
Korhan Ozkan,
2
Vahit Emre Ozden,
3
and Afsar T. Ozkut
2
1
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
2
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, SB. Medeniyet University Goztepe Education and Research Hospital,
Istanbul, Turkey
3
Acibadem Hospital, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey
Correspondence should be addressed to Hakan Cit; hakanturancit@yahoo.com
Received 17 February 2015; Accepted 15 March 2015
Academic Editor: Pedro Carpintero
Copyright © 2015 Hakan Citet al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Although shoulder dislocations have been seen very frequently, inferior dislocation of shoulder constitutes only 0.5% of all shoulder
dislocations. We share our 4 patients with luxatio erecta and present their last clinical control. 2 male and 2 female Caucasian patients
were diagnosed as luxatio erecta. Patients’ ages were 78, 62, 65, and 76. All patients’ reduction was done by traction-abduction and
contour traction maneuver in the operating room. he patients had no symptoms and no limitation of range of motion of their
shoulder at their last control. Luxatio erecta is seen rarely, and these patients may have neurovascular injury. hese patients should
be carefully examined and treated by the orthopaedic and traumatology surgeons.
1. Introduction
Although shoulder dislocations have been seen very fre-
quently, inferior dislocation of shoulder constitutes only 0.5%
of all shoulder dislocations [1]. he most inferior dislocations
result from forceful hyperabduction of the shoulder. Forceful,
direct axial loading of an abducted shoulder can also result
in luxatio erecta. he patients come to the emergency room
with the hand up position in the efected arm. In this report,
we share our 4 patients with luxatio erecta and present their
treatment results.
2. Case Presentations
2.1. Case 1. 76-year-old male Caucasian patient presented to
the Emergency Department with pain and inability to move
his right shoulder. His right arm was locked in abduction
of 135 degrees. Because he had dementia we could not get
enough information how the injury occurred other than a
fall during walking. Examination revealed loss of contour
of shoulder, presence of the head of humerus palpable in
the axilla. Humeral head was monitored below the glenoid
rim in the X-ray. here were no neurovascular deicits and
no fracture in the shoulder radiography and humeral head
had been seen under the glenoid. Under sedation, reduction
was done by traction-abduction and contour traction maneu-
ver. Velpeau bandage was done. Progressive mobilization
of shoulder was started ater 3 weeks. he patient had no
symptoms and no limitation of range of motion of his
shoulder at his last control 12 months ater reduction.
2.2. Case 2. 62-year-old female Caucasian patient presented
to the Emergency Department with pain and inability to
move right shoulder. She was hanged with outstretched
hand while she was falling from the wall. She also had
Parkinson’s disease. She could not move her arm which was
elevated and abducted from horizontal plane; prominence
of acromion and humeral head was palpable in the axilla.
X-ray showed humeral head under glenoid (Figure 1). here
were no neurovascular deicits. Under sedation, immediately
reduction was done by traction-abduction and contour trac-
tion maneuver (Figure 2). Velpeau bandage was applied with
3 weeks of immobilization. he patient had no symptoms and
no limitation of range of motion of her shoulder at her last
control 8 months ater reduction.
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Case Reports in Orthopedics
Volume 2015, Article ID 624310, 3 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/624310