Evaluation of the Scapulohumeral Distraction (SHD) technique for anterior shoulder dislocation. A randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Shoulder dislocation is a common injury presenting in emergency Department. Numerous methods have been described in the literature for glenohumeral reduction. These methods can be divided into two groups: traction maneuvers and the combination of traction with scapula manipulation techniques. In this article, we introduced a new maneuver for shoulder reduction, namely, the combination of traction with handling the scapula (scapulohumeral distraction, SHD) and compare it to the Hippocratic Method (HT).

Materials and methods: The study took place from November 2021 to September 2023. A total of 96 patients with acute anterior shoulder dislocation were enrolled in the study. Eighty-seven patients, who met all inclusion criteria, were randomly assigned to one of the two groups (SHD and HM). We evaluated each method for success rate, time to relocation, complications over a follow-up period of one month, patients' satisfaction and pain level during the procedure.

Results: Both methods had comparable success rates (SHD 95.3% vs. HM 93.2%, p=.833) while no complications where observed. However, SHD method required significantly less procedure time (p=.001). Moreover, patients in SHD group reported significantly less pain (p=.012) and greater satisfaction (p=.003) levels. Furthermore, when we assessed relocation time, pain and patient satisfaction as a function of recurrence, there were no statistically significant differences between the 2 techniques. Similarly, the evaluation of relocation time for both techniques as a function of BMI and age did not indicate statistically significant differences.

Conclusion: Scapulohumeral distraction technique (SHD) represents a safe, anatomically based and simple method for shoulder reduction. It showed a statistically significant decrease in relocation time and pain, with patients mentioned higher satisfaction rates compared to the classical Hippocratic method. Nonetheless, there were no statistically significant differences between the two techniques regarding success rate.