Posterior fracture-dislocation of the shoulder treated by a Neer hemiarthroplasty with a posterior surgical approach.

A 75-year-old man sustained a posterior dislocation of the shoulder associated with a completely displaced fracture through the anatomical neck of the humerus. The patient was treated successfully by a Neer hemiarthroplasty inserted through a posterior surgical approach. The posterior approach was selected because the usual anterior approach would have been complicated because of interference with a cardiac pacemaker situated in the deltopectoral region of the involved shoulder.