[Diagnosis and therapy of traumatic posterior shoulder dislocations].

In cases of dislocation of the shoulder the humeral head almost always dislocates anteriorly. Only rarely does the dislocation result in a posterior position of all or part of the humeral head. The diagnosis of posterior dislocation is not always as easy as the diagnosis of anterior dislocation and for this reason the injury is often missed. Cisternino et al. found that over 50% of patients with posterior dislocation of the shoulder were missed on initial examination. The longer the time between accident and treatment, the more difficult that treatment becomes and the harder it is to achieve a satisfactory functional result. Therefore it is vital to think of this injury in all cases of severe contusion of the shoulder and if there is the slightest suspicion of this injury, the patient must be aggressively investigated to establish the relationship between the humeral head and the glenoid.