Anatomy clinical correlates: Clavicle and shoulder

2,589views

00:00 / 00:00

Questions

USMLE® Step 1 style questions USMLE

of complete

USMLE® Step 2 style questions USMLE

of complete

A 44-year-old man presents to his primary care physician with worsening left shoulder pain. He can no longer do bench presses or shoulder presses at the gym due to weakness and pain. The pain is primarily located over the lateral shoulder, is worse at night, and is preventing him from obtaining adequate rest. Past medical history is otherwise unremarkable. He has no history of recent trauma or surgeries to the left shoulder. The patient subsequently undergoes a MRI of the left shoulder, which reveals the following:  


Image reproduced from Radiopedia  
Which of the following physical examination maneuvers is most likely to yield a positive test, given this patient’s clinical findings?  

Memory Anchors and Partner Content

Transcript

Watch video only

Our upper limbs are complex structures. They’ve got bones, muscles, fascia, nerves and blood vessels, and everything in between. Our upper limbs are prone to injury however, and oftentimes, even a small injury can have a huge functional deficit as we are so reliant on our upper limbs in everyday life. One of these commonly injured areas is the shoulder region.

Ok, so let’s start by taking a look at the injuries of the clavicle. Because of its subcutaneous position, the clavicle is prone to fractures, which are usually the result of direct or indirect trauma. An example of direct trauma is falling directly on the shoulder. Indirect trauma, however, may occur when falling on an outstretched hand, and the force of impact is transmitted through the bones of the forearm and the arm to the shoulder, which can result in a clavicle fracture. Most of these fractures occur in the middle third of the clavicle, particularly where the middle third meets the lateral third, which is the weakest point of the clavicle.

So with clavicular fractures, the medial fragment is usually pulled up by the sternocleidomastoid muscles, which can be apparent to the naked eye and palpable. At the same time, the trapezius muscle is having trouble holding the lateral fragment up, because of the weight of the limb, so the shoulder drops. And since the two fragments may glide under each other, the clavicle is also shortened. Additional features may signal complications of a clavicle fracture. For example, if the skin above the fracture seems to be tenting, meaning it looks like a tent, that suggests the fracture may become an open fracture in the future, and warrants surgical stabilization.

Alright, now, another thing that can happen in this region is an acromioclavicular dislocation, also called a “shoulder separation”. Just like the name says, the clavicle and acromion process separate, usually because of a direct blow to the shoulder, or a fall landing directly on the shoulder joint. And this may be seen in contact sports, like football, soccer or hockey.

In most cases, the dislocation is mild if the acromioclavicular ligament is just stretched or partially torn. In severe cases, both the acromioclavicular ligament and the coracoclavicular ligaments are torn. If the coracoclavicular ligament tears, the shoulder can completely separate and drop due to the weight of the upper limb. If the joint capsule also tears, the acromion process may slip under the clavicle.

Sources

  1. "Clavicle fractures" Orthopaedics & Traumatology: Surgery & Research (2017)
  2. "Bedside Ultrasound Diagnosis of Clavicle Fractures in the Pediatric Emergency Department" Academic Emergency Medicine (2010)
  3. "Treatment of Acute Midshaft Clavicle Fractures: Systematic Review of 2144 Fractures" Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma (2005)
  4. "Acute rotator cuff tears" BMJ (2017)
  5. "Surgery for rotator cuff tears" Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2019)
  6. "DeLee & Drez's Orthopaedic Sports Medicine" W B Saunders Company (2015)
  7. "Treatment of Adhesive Capsulitis of the Shoulder" Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (2019)
  8. "Shoulder Pain and Mobility Deficits: Adhesive Capsulitis" Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (2013)
  9. "Clavicle fractures" Am Fam Physician (2008)
  10. "Treatment of clavicle fractures" Transl Med UniSa (2012)
Elsevier

Copyright © 2024 Elsevier, its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

Cookies are used by this site.

USMLE® is a joint program of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). COMLEX-USA® is a registered trademark of The National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, Inc. NCLEX-RN® is a registered trademark of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. Test names and other trademarks are the property of the respective trademark holders. None of the trademark holders are endorsed by nor affiliated with Osmosis or this website.

RELX