Glenohumeral dislocation – CXR

Glenohumeral dislocation. The ‘B’ in the ABCDE (etc.) approach to CXR interpretation is for two things – Bones and Breasts. As a medical student, you’re not going to be expected to spot very subtle bone pathology on a CXR, and it is probably more important that you remember to look at the breast shadows. However, a few of the more obvious things you should look for are shoulder dislocations, like the one on the right here (often present on CXRs performed as part of a trauma series), displaced rib fractures (which should prompt a careful search for a pneumothorax), clavicle fractures and large destructive lesions like metastases and myeloma deposits.