title: Restraining patients and shoulder dislocations during seizures.
abstract: We describe 3 patients whose shoulders dislocated as the movements of the arm were restricted during a generalized tonic clonic seizure over an 18-month period. The first patient had both shoulders dislocated when observers sat on his arms during the convulsion. The second patient had a convulsion while in a forced lateral decubitus position and dislocated the shoulder on that side. The third patient dislocated the shoulder and fractured the acromion as she was held by her arms in a chair during a convulsion. Despite the large number of patients with refractory epilepsy under our care, no cases of spontaneous shoulder dislocation occurred during that period of time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Miami, FL 33136, USA.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: DeToledo
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Lowe
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Ramsay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004830:Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012149:Restraint, Physical / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012783:Shoulder Dislocation / Q000209:etiology*