Anterior dislocation of the shoulder joint sustained through skiing. Arthrographic findings and prognosis.

Over a period of 10 years we have studied 14,952 cases of skiing injuries. Of these, 660 cases (4.5%) were injuries to the shoulder with 291 cases (44.1%) being anterior dislocations of the shoulder. One hundred forty-three cases revealed an initial dislocation (49.1%), and 148 cases were recurrent dislocations (50.9%). We examined the arthrography of the dislocated shoulder in 89 cases. Of these initial dislocations, one-half of the capsular detachment type were redislocated, but no redislocation had occurred in the capsular tear type. In addition, almost all of the recurrent cases were of the capsular detachment type. Thus, through arthrography of the anterior dislocated shoulder, we have been able to discover the mechanism of the dislocation and decide upon the necessary duration and method of fixation of the shoulder after reduction.