Luxatio Erecta – “Hands-up” shoulder dislocation

Abstract

Inferior shoulder dislocation, also known as luxatio erecta or “hands up dislocation”, is a rare and unusual type of shoulder dislocation. It is more commonly associated with neurovascular damage than other types of shoulder dislocation. Case report: We describe a case of a 44 year-old male who presented to our emergency centre with an inferior shoulder dislocation. X-ray of his left shoulder was performed which revealed the classical appearance. The injury was subsequently relocated by closed reduction technique. Conclusion: The typical mechanism of injury is a sudden application of pressure from above onto an abducted and externally rotated shoulder joint with the elbow flexed. To reduce, first traction–counter traction is applied in line with the abducted humerus followed by steady adduction of the arm.