The floating shoulder - A multicentre study

he aim of this retrospective study was to review a series of patients with ipsilateral fractures of the neck of the scapula and of the clavicle. Betwe en 1991 and 1996 a total of 79 general and orthopaedic surgeons treated 46 patients with a floating shoulder in The Netherlands. The records and radio graphs of these patients were studied. Of the 35 patients available for fol low-up, 31 had initially been treated conservatively and four by operation; three underwent secondary reconstructive surgery. The mean Constant score for the 28 patients treated conservatively was 76 and for the seven treated operatively it was 71 at a mean follow-up of 35 months. In six of the 28 p atients treated conservatively the glenoid was dislocated caudally at the e nd of treatment; they had a score of 42. In the 22 patients without this di slocation the score was 85. We conclude that this rare injury is not inhere ntly unstable and, in the absence of caudal dislocation of the glenoid, con servative treatment gives a good functional outcome.