Acute bilateral posterior dislocation of the shoulder: one-stage reconstruction of both humeral heads with cancellous autograft and cartilage preservation

Abstract

We present a case of bilateral posterior shoulder dislocation after an epileptic seizure. The anterior humeral-head impression fracture was 60% of the articular surface on the right shoulder and 30% on the left shoulder. We performed an early one-stage reconstruction of both humeral heads. A cancellous autograft was used on the left side and an iliac cortico-cancellous autograft on the right side, with preservation of the patient's cartilage. Three years later, the clinical and morphological results were excellent. The discussion focuses on surgical options that range from conservative treatment with excision of the damaged cartilage to immediate hemiarthroplasty. This case is original because of the preservation of the patient's cartilage during reconstruction.