Quick refreshers before your next procedure

Posterior Shoulder Dislocation

Traction Counter-Traction

Time: 20 mins
Personnel Required: 2
Equipment Required: Bedsheet

Steps: 

1. Assistant: Wrap 2 bedsheets around torso at the axilla of injured side.

2. Assistant: Apply counter-traction with bedsheets.

3. Operator: Grasp the patient's wrist, may interlock your elbow with the patient's elbow to use as a fulcrum in applying axial traction.

4. Operator: Gently apply further external shoulder rotation as necessary.

5. Place reduced arm in shoulder sling and perform a neurovascular exam.