A case of reducible dislocation of the shoulders : followed by fracture of the neck of the humerus, dislocation of the head under the subscapularis muscle, and the formation of an artificial joint, etc. / by James R. Wood.

  • Wood, James R. (James Rushmore), 1816-1882.
Date:
[1854]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A case of reducible dislocation of the shoulders : followed by fracture of the neck of the humerus, dislocation of the head under the subscapularis muscle, and the formation of an artificial joint, etc. / by James R. Wood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    An examination of the patient showed the rotundity of the shoulder lost, though by pressing up the arm it was restored. The limb could be moved with unnatural facility in every di- rection, and the motion was accompanied with crepitation. By placing the finger in the axilla, a hard body could be felt; but much smaller than the head of the humerus. There were some of the signs of fracture of the .cervix scapulae, such as falling of the shoulder, &c. On the second day after his admission he was attacked with delirium tremens, and on the next day, with erysipelas of the head and face. The delirium increased, and the erysipe- las extended to the thorax and shoulder; and on the 3d of January, 1848, he died. Autopsy, sixteen hours after death.—An incision through the deltoid into the joint, gave exit to a large quantity of un- healthy pus. A comminuted fracture of the superior extrem- ity of the humerus was next discovered; one of the ends was rounded and smooth, as if it had been covered with car- tilage ; but this, as well as the other comminuted parts, was denuded of periosteum. The glenoid cavity was covered with cartilage, and the head of the bone was found lodged in an artificial cavity on the venter of the scapula; beneath the subsdapularis muscle, that portion of it next to the scapula, was flat and smooth; it was diminished very much in size, and had evidently occupied its new position a long time. It was supposed, that at the receipt of the injury, a year before, the fracture was produced at the neck of the humerus, and that at the same time the head of the bone was thrown into the place in which it was found; and that also the upper end of the shaft of the humerus, being covered with cartilage, had occupied the glenoid cavity of the scapula, thus forming a tolerably useful joint.