Infraglenoid fracture of the scapular neck fact or myth?

Abstract

In 1991, Ada and Miller described a new type of scapular neck fracture. It was a transverse fracture of the scapular body passing from the inferior border of the glenoid to the medial border of the scapular body (their type IIC). This fracture was later designated by Goss as a “fracture of neck inferior to scapula spine“. Since then, this type of fracture has been the cause of a number of controversies, mainly concerning the so-called “floating shoulder”. However, scapular neck fractures can be considered to be only those fractures that separate completely the glenoid from the scapular body. Term “fracture of neck inferior to scapula spine“ does not fit into this definition because it does not compromise the junction between the glenoid fossa and the scapular body. Actually, it is a transverse two-part fracture of the infraspinous part of the scapular body. As a result this term should no longer be used in the literature.

Keywords: floating shoulder; scapular body fractures; scapular fractures; scapular neck fractures.