Fracture of the scapular body: functional outcome after conservative treatment.

Background: Scapular body fractures, irrespective of the number of fragments, are usually managed non-operatively, with favorable results. We evaluated results after non-operative management to determine the outcomes of scapular body fractures.

Methods: We evaluated 22 patients following a fracture of the scapular body that had been treated non-operatively. To assess the influence of accompanying injuries other than those of the involved limb, we used both patient-oriented general health and shoulder-based outcome measures.

Results: In this series the functional outcome, reflected by the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score, the Simple Shoulder Test (SST) score and the range-of-motion, showed a difference between multiple injured patient group and a group sustaining a isolated scapular fracture. There was no significant difference in the SF-36 scores of the overall group compared with an age-matched population control in any subcategory beside the subcategory social function. The SF-36 scores of the multitrauma patient group were significantly lower than the scores of the age-matched population controls in several subcategories.

Conclusion: Whereas isolated scapular body fractures healed leading to a functional shoulder score level equal to the general population and a range of motion equal to the uninjured contralateral shoulder, the multitrauma patient group showed a less favorable outcome.