Bilateral Luxatio Erecta Humeri With Acute Anterior-inferior Re-dislocation

• Main Authors: Adam Kessler, Jacob Hinkley, David Houserman, Jacob Lytle, Michael Sorscher
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: eScholarship Publishing, University of California 2020-02-01
• Series: Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine
• Online Access: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2cg281ks

Luxatio erecta is a description for a specific and rare type of shoulder dislocation where the humeral head dislocates directly inferior. This rare form of glenohumeral dislocation accounts for only 0.5% of shoulder dislocations. It is even less common for both shoulders to be bilaterally dislocated inferiorly with the characteristic “hands up” posture. A limited number of these bilateral occurrences are described in the literature to date and most have been from higher energy trauma. We have described a low energy case of bilateral luxatio erecta and the reduction method used and the continued instability following successful reduction under procedural anesthesia.