Diagnosing and treating clavicle injuries.

Abstract

The most common injuries to the clavicle and its associated articulations are acromioclavicular and sternoclavicular dislocations, clavicle fractures, and osteolysis and degeneration of the clavicle. Physicians need to be familiar with the anatomy of the region and the most common mechanisms of injury to be able to expediently diagnose and treat such injuries. Diagnosis is often straightforward, and conservative measures such as a figure-of-eight harness, icing, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs usually produce satisfactory results.