Restraining patients and shoulder dislocations during seizures.
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.
DeToledo
J C
JC
Department of Neurology, University of Miami, FL 33136, USA.
Lowe
M R
MR
Ramsay
R E
RE
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*