Atraumatic retrosternal dislocation of the clavicle.


Published online: Jun 27 2004

Kayias, Drosos, Anagnostopoulou,

2nd Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Athens Naval Hospital, Deinocratous 70, 11521 Athens, Greece.

Abstract

Atraumatic retrosternal dislocation of the clavicle is an exceedingly rare event and three out of four previously reported cases lack any radiological evidence. We report the case of a 30-year-old male patient who presented an atraumatic retrosternal dislocation of the clavicle without a history of previous injury and underlying pathology. The diagnosis was delayed and established by a CT scan ten days after and initial presentation of the symptoms. A successful, stable, closed reduction under general anaesthesia was performed ten days after the initial presentation, having a cardiothoracic surgeon immediately available. There was no recurrence and the patient remains asymptomatic 18 months later.