Iatrogenic fracture of humerus - Complication of a diagnostic error in a shoulder dislocation: A case report

Abstract

Shoulder dislocation is the commonest dislocation presenting to the emergency department, anterior being more common than posterior. The latter being less common has a tendency of being missed; this is supported by many cases in the literature. Kocher's method is one of the many methods of reducing anterior dislocation; there are many reported complications of employing this method. To the best of our knowledge we are reporting the first case of an iatrogenic fracture of the proximal humerus, due to the use of Kocher's method of shoulder reduction in a posterior dislocation following a diagnostic error which led to an avoidable difficult surgical intervention. We also discuss the mechanism of the iatrogenic fracture and the measures that can be undertaken to prevent it. © 2007 Ahmad et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.