Bilateral traumatic proximal humerus fractures managed by open reduction and internal fixation with locked plates

Fractures of the proximal humerus are uncommon in young patients.Although bilateral fracture of proximal humerus itself is rare,association with epilepsy and electrocution is frequent.Only one case of traumatic bilateral proximal humerus fracture has been reported in the literature.We report a rare case of bilateral traumatic displaced proximal humerus fractures in a 40 years old male patient,which was treated by means of open reduction and internal fixation with proximal humerus locked pates on both sides and obtained a good functional outcome.

First rib fractures： not always a hallmark of severe trauma a report of three cases

According to medical literature, fracture of the first rib is quite rare and the bilateral condition is especially rare. This type of fracture is usually associated with severe intrathoracic trauma and other bony or neurovascular injuries, thus can be considered as a harbinger of major trauma. However here we present three cases of low velocity first rib fractures without any major trauma or multisystem injuries. All the three patients were treated conservatively and did well on simple analgesics and rest and had no early or late complications. It can be seen that not all the first rib fractures are associated with major trauma or multisystem injuries. There is a variant of first rib fracture with low velocity injuries which is not associated with any major complications in contrast to majority of first rib fractures associated with high velocity injuries. Causative factor of such injuries may be violent muscular contraction of scalenus anterior or serratus anterior, but not direct trauma.

Scapulothoracic and scapholunate dissociation in the ipsilateral upper limb of a trauma victim

Scapulothoracic dissociation is a rare and complex injury pattern with varied presentation.Here we describe a case of a 32-year-old male who presented with scapulothoracic dissociation associated with brachial plexus injury,along with scapholunate dissociation.We also propose an injury mechanism that might link the two injury patterns,suggesting that the association might be more than by chance.The patient was managed according to established trauma care and resuscitation protocols followed by open reduction and internal fixation of the clavicle fracture,and fixation of scapholunate dissociation and had a successful outcome at follow-up.

Complete palmer lunate enucleation -- is proximal row carpectomy or wrist arthrodesis the only choice？

Perilunate dislocations are rare injuries of the wrist and complete dislocation of the lunate is also rare. There is controversy in literature regarding the optimal management of such injuries. Complete lunate enucleation is associated with high rate of osteonecrosis of lunate thus wrist arthrodesis or proximal row carpectomy has been ad- vocated as primary treatment for such injuries. We report a case of transradial styloid complete palmar lunate enucle- ation in a 25-year-old male patient who sustained injury to the left wrist due to fall on outstretched hand. Carpal row salvage surgery initially by closed reduction and wrist distractor application followed by open reduction and in- ternal fixation with K-wires along with ligamentous repair resulted in restoration of normal wrist anatomy and good functional outcome. As many of these injuries are missed on initial presentation and outcome is poor for missed injuries, prompt diagnosis and early surgical management to restore vascularity of lunate is recommended.