Injuries of the shoulder girdle.

Abstract

Shoulder girdle injuries occur infrequently, but can lead to high rates of morbidity and mortality if these high energy injuries are underdiagnosed or mistreated. Most injuries can be treated conservatively, but a high index of suspicion and aggressive physical and radiographic evaluations should be used to evaluate patients with polytrauma. This article discusses these injuries, their associated pathoanatomy, and current management.