Surgical Treatment of Dislocations of the Sternoclavicular Joint

Abstract

Six patients with dislocation of the sternoclavicular joint are presented. Their main complaints were chronic recurrent spontaneous dislocation and local tenderness and discomfort during normal use of the shoulder. Two patients were treated according to Brown's modified procedure while four patients were operated with Burrow's technique. Ten weeks immobilization postoperatively is recommended to obtain a satisfactory result.

Suture anchors for treatment of sternoclavicular joint instability

“…Satisfactory results were reported with the use of Burrows procedure for chronic recurrent sternoclavicular joint dislocations. 1 Resection of the medial end of the clavicle is an option in treating painful sternoclavicular joints. Eskola et al 6 found poor results in patients treated with resection of the medial end of the clavicle for old traumatic dislocations and reported good results with tendon grafts and fascial loops.…”

Reconstruction for instability of the sternoclavicular joint using the tendon of the sternocleidomastoid muscle

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] The instability can be anterior, superior or posterior and may occur acutely or chronically. In acute presentations, stability can be successfully restored with sutures through the bone, bone anchors 7,8 or other techniques.…”

Fracture of the manubrium with posterior displacement of the clavicle and first rib

“…Firstly, by direct force from impact against the steering wheel, or the effect of a seat belt [2, 9-11, 15, 18, 19]; these fractures occur mainly at the level of the sternal body with posterior displacement. Secondly, by flexion-compression with the head thrust forward with forced flexion at the cervicothoracic junction, resulting in a fracture of the manubrium, or a fracture between it and the body of the sternum, and frequently associated with vertebral body compression [6] and thirdly, by lateral application of force to the shoulder which usually dislocates the sternoclavicular joint, but without an associated fracture [1,4,8,16,21]. This was the mechanism in our case.…”