Injuries of the sternoclavicular joint

Abstract

Injuries of the sternoclavicular joint (SCJ) are rare accounting for 3% of all injuries to the shoulder girdle and are often overlooked. The SCJ is surrounded by tight ligamentous structures, thus substantial energy with corresponding force vectors is needed to cause dislocation. Causative are mostly high-energy traumas. Anterior dislocation is most common but in rare cases potentially life-threatening posterior dislocation occurs, which requires immediate reduction. The established gold standard is 3D reconstruction in contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) for depiction of neurovascular structures. Low-grade instability can initially be treated conservatively. For unsuccessful attempts at reduction, high-grade instability and chronic instability various surgical techniques are established. Next to retentive augmentation with suture materials, in acute cases with chronic instability biological tendon augmentation is preferred. In cases of posttraumatic instability arthritis SCJ resection with or without additive biological augmentation can be carried out. Various study groups have shown good to very good midterm outcome.