Case Report Traumatic Floating Clavicle: A Case Report and Literature Review

Bipolar fracture dislocations of the clavicle are rare injuries, usually the result of high-energy direct trauma. Since the original description by Porral in 1831, only a handful of individual case reports and case series by Beckman and Sanders have been reported in the literature. Management of these injuries has remained controversial ranging from nonoperative to aggressive surgery. We report on the case of a young army cadet who had a fracture of the lateral end of the clavicle, with an anterior dislocation of the sternoclavicular joint. Despite being planned for surgery, at the patients request, it was decided to manage the lesion conservatively with graded physiotherapy. At one-year follow-up, he had full pain-free, functional range of movement of the shoulder. This young high demand patient had a good outcome with conservative management, despite going against the current trend towards surgical treatment. We present this case with a review of the literature, highlighting the various management options for this rare lesion

Traumatic Floating Clavicle: A Case Report and Literature Review

Bipolar fracture dislocations of the clavicle are rare injuries, usually the result of high-energy direct trauma. Since the original description by Porral in 1831, only a handful of individual case reports and case series by Beckman and Sanders have been reported in the literature. Management of these injuries has remained controversial ranging from nonoperative to aggressive surgery. We report on the case of a young army cadet who had a fracture of the lateral end of the clavicle, with an anterior dislocation of the sternoclavicular joint. Despite being planned for surgery, at the patients request, it was decided to manage the lesion conservatively with graded physiotherapy. At one-year follow-up, he had full pain-free, functional range of movement of the shoulder. This young high demand patient had a good outcome with conservative management, despite going against the current trend towards surgical treatment. We present this case with a review of the literature, highlighting the various management options for this rare lesion

Closing the health gap in Central Australia: reduction in Indigenous Australian inpatient self-discharge rates following routine collaboration with Aboriginal Health Workers

Abstract Background Indigenous Australians experience significant socioeconomic disadvantage and healthcare disparity compared to non-Indigenous Australians. A retrospective cohort study to describe the association between rates of self-discharge in Indigenous orthopaedic patients and the introduction of routine Aboriginal Liaison Officers (ALO) within the Orthopaedic multi-disciplinary team (MDT) was performed. Methods ALO were introduced within our routine Orthopaedic MDT on the 22nd of February 2021. Two patient cohorts were analysed, Group 1; patients admitted in the 9-months prior to inclusion of ALO, and Group 2; patients admitted within 9-months thereafter. The primary outcome of interest was the rate of self-discharge among Indigenous patients. Secondary outcomes of interest were the stage of treatment when patients self-discharged, recurrent self-discharge, risk factors for self-discharge and association between self-discharge and length of hospital stay. Results Introduction of ALO within routine Orthopaedic MDT was associated with a significant 37% reduced risk of self-discharge among Indigenous patients (p = 0·009), and significantly fewer self-discharges before their definitive surgical and medical treatment (p = 0·0024), or before completion of postoperative intravenous antibiotic treatment (p = 0·030). There was no significant change in the risk of recurrent self-discharge (p = 0·557). Risk factors for self-discharge were younger age; pensioners or unemployed; residents of Alice Springs Town-Camps or of communities within 51 to 100 km of Alice Springs; and those diagnosed with lacerations of the upper limb, but without tendon injury, wound and soft tissue infections or osteomyelitis. In Group 2, the odds of self-discharge decreased with increased length of hospital stay (p = 0·040). Conclusions Routine inclusion of ALO within the Orthopaedic MDT reduced the risk of self-discharge in Indigenous patients. Those who self-discharged did so only after critical aspects of their care were met