← All decks
The first 25 slides, exactly as they appear. The full deck has 89 content slides.
Orthopaedics
Fracture of the Scapula
Built from Tang — Orthopaedic Trauma Vol 1: Upper Extremity
What’s inside
11 sections · 89 slides
Overview
- What this deck will teach you
The Scapula and Why It Matters
First principles: a rare fracture with dangerous company
- How common is a broken shoulder blade?
- The real danger sits next door: the chest
- Scapular fracture with rib fractures and lung injury
- Two quiet complications you must not miss
- Why most scapular fractures heal without surgery
- Muscles that splint the scapula (lateral view)
Applied Anatomy
The parts, the muscles, and the nerves a surgeon must respect
- The shoulder trades stability for movement
- How the scapula attaches: a cable-stayed bridge
- Muscles anchoring the scapula to the spine and ribs
- The keystone: the SSSC
- The SSSC and its injury patterns
- Floating shoulder: when the arm loses its anchor
- Where surgeons can safely place metal
- The four safe zones for scapular fracture fixation
- The coracoid: a small hook doing a lot of work
- Two nerves you must not injure
- Course of the suprascapular and axillary nerves
How the Shoulder Lifts the Arm
A three-stage lever — needed to understand what a fracture breaks
- The shoulder is a lever that needs a fulcrum
- Stage 1 (0–60°): the glenohumeral joint leads
- Stages 2 and 3 (60–180°): the scapula and spine join in
- The shoulder as a crane: fulcrums of abduction
Mechanisms of Injury
Two ways the shoulder blade breaks
- Direct vs indirect force
Classifying the Fractures
Naming systems that match anatomy to treatment
- Why several classifications, not one
- Zdravkovic–Damholt classification (overall scapula)
- Zdravkovic–Damholt classification (source table)
- Anatomical regions of the scapula for classification
- Ideberg classification (glenoid fractures)
- Ideberg classification (source table)
- Ideberg types of glenoid fracture
- Kuhn classification (acromion fractures)
- Reading the acromion fracture indirectly
- Kuhn classification (source table)
- Acromion fracture types by subacromial space
- Ogawa classification (coracoid fractures)
- Ogawa classification (source table)
- Ogawa types of coracoid process fracture
- Scapular neck fractures: a simple two-type scheme
Assessing the Patient
Clinical exam first, then the right images
- Clinical assessment: look past the shoulder
- Skin sensory map of the brachial plexus branches
- Red-flag injuries and the skin
- Imaging: choosing the right view
- Standard radiographic views of the shoulder
- Stryker notch view for the coracoid process
- Clavicle fracture with scapulothoracic dissociation
- Why CT with 3D reconstruction is worth it
- CT reveals a hidden glenoid fracture
When to Operate
Strict indications and clear surgical goals
- Surgical indications: keep them tight
- Floating shoulder and the bony processes
- The goal of surgery
- Choosing the surgical approach by fracture site
Deltopectoral Approach
Front-of-shoulder repair for anterior glenoid and coracoid
- Setup and skin incision
- Deltopectoral approach: surface marking and positioning
- Working safely down to the glenoid
- Deltopectoral exposure and the coracoid 'lighthouse'
- Reduction and fixation, front approach
- Fixation of an anterior glenoid fracture
- Fixation options for coracoid process fractures
- Closure and rehabilitation (deltopectoral)
Judet (Posterior) Approach
Back-of-shoulder repair for the glenoid neck and lateral margin
- Positioning for the posterior approach
- Positioning for the posterior (Judet) approach
- Fluoroscopy: AP and axillary views
- The simplified Judet incision
- Modified Judet incision compared with the classic Judet
- Reaching the joint through muscle intervals
- Posterior exposure of the glenoid neck
- Reduction and fixation, posterior approach
- Plate fixation of a posterior fracture
Experience, Lessons, and Summary
Practical pearls and the take-home message
- Surgical pearls from experience
- Key numbers to remember
- Scapular fracture by the numbers
- Three ideas to carry away
- When is surgery indicated for a displaced scapular neck fracture, and why?
- References (1/4)
- References (2/4)
- References (3/4)
- References (4/4)
- Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery — Volume 1: Upper Extremity