This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) CME: Take the activity for this article: CME 3: July, August, September 2009 (publication date October 5, 2009; expi... Letters to the Editor: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Letters to the Editor are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Rights and Permissions Google Scholar Articles by Armitage, B. M. Articles by Cole, P. A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Armitage, B. M. Articles by Cole, P. A. Related Collections Adult Trauma Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Mapping of Scapular Fractures with Three-Dimensional Computed Tomography

¹ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, R200, 2512 South 7th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55454
² Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Kaufmann Medical Building, Suite 911, 3471 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
³ Division of Orthopaedic Trauma, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Regions Hospital, 640 Jackson Street, St. Paul, MN 55101. E-mail address for P.A. Cole: peter.a.cole{at}healthpartners.com

Investigation performed at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Regions Hospital, St. Paul, Minnesota

Disclosure: In support of their research for or preparation of this work, one or more of the authors received, in any one year, outside funding or grants in excess of $10,000 from Zimmer, Inc. Neither they nor a member of their immediate families received payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, division, center, clinical practice, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors, or a member of their immediate families, are affiliated or associated.

Methods: A prospective database was used in the collection of consecutive radiographic imaging studies of patients undergoing operative treatment of scapular fractures. Scanned three-dimensional computed tomography images were superimposed and oriented to fit a model scapular template. Size dimensions were normalized by aligning specific scapular landmarks. Fracture lines were identified and traced over the combined three-dimensional computed tomography model to create a scapular fracture map.

Results: Of ninety fractures that met the criteria for inclusion, 68% involved the inferior aspect of the glenoid neck and 71% involved the superior vertebral border. Seventeen percent of the patterns included articular extension, and 22% of the fractures entered the spinoglenoid notch. Of fractures involving the inferior aspect of the glenoid neck at the lateral scapular border, 84% traversed medially to exit just inferior to the medial extent of the scapular spine, and 59% of these inferior neck fractures also had propagation to the inferior third of the vertebral border. Among the fractures involving the spinoglenoid notch, the most common pattern was demonstrated by coexisting fracture lines; 60% of the fractures of the spinoglenoid notch exited just inferior to the glenoid, 65% extended to the superior-medial vertebral border, and 45% extended to the inferior-medial vertebral border. In contrast, articular fractures did not follow predictable patterns; they demonstrated the greatest variability in trajectory, which was almost random, and there was a wide distribution of exit points along the vertebral border.

Conclusions: Surgically treated scapular fractures display very common patterns. The most common pattern is the lateral border fracture immediately inferior to the glenoid, which extends to the superior vertebral border in more than two-thirds of cases. A smaller proportion of scapular fractures enter the spinoglenoid notch or the articular surface. There is great variation in the patterns of fractures involving the articular surface.

Clinical Relevance: These study results can yield insight relevant to surgical approaches and reduction and fixation strategies, and they elucidate the most common fracture patterns encountered during surgery.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Facebook    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press (TM) assists in the publication of JBJS Online.
Copyright © 2009 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc. Online ISSN: 1535-1386.
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery®, JBJS®, JB&JS®, and eJBJS® are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.