Analysis for Misdiagnosis and Missed Diagnosis of Seven Patients with Occult Humeral Head Fracture
SHUAI Ming
XU Min
LI Han-tao
LI Hao
XIONG Xu
Abstract：Objective To investigate causes of misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of occult humeral head fracture and to provide preventive measures. Methods Clinical data of 7 patients with missed diagnosis or misdiag-nosis of occult humeral head fracture admitted to our hospital between January 2013 and January 2017 was retrospec-tively analyzed. Results All the patients complained of shoulder pain with limitation of motion. There were no obvi-ous signs of fracture of the humeral head on the initial X-ray examination. Three patients were diagnosed as shoulder dislocation with avulsion fracture of greater tubercle of humerus, two patients were diagnosed as avulsion fracture of greater tubercle of humerus, and 2 patients diagnosed as soft tissue contusion. All cases were misdiagnosed as humer-al head fracture. The duration of misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis was 1 d-2 w. CT scanning of shoulder joint con-firmed humeral head fracture in all seven patients. Of them, 4 patients received internal fixation, and plaster outer- fixation was performed in 3 patients. At an average follow-up period of 6-24 months, all patients had excellent frac-ture union, and shoulder function was significantly improved. Conclusion Occult humeral head fracture is easily misdiagnosed or neglected. For those with highly suspected occult humeral head fracture but with negative X-ray find-ings, CT scan should be performed in order to prevent missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis.
Keywords：Shoulder fracturesMisdiagnosisMissed diagnosisShoulder dislocation
Publication Date：2018-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 64-67 )