Position and Duration of Immobilization After Primary Anterior Shoulder Dislocation

Analysis of the best available evidence indicates there is no benefit of conventional sling immobilization for longer than one week for the treatment of primary anterior shoulder dislocation in younger patients. An age of less than thirty years at the time of injury is significantly predictive of recurrence. Bracing in external rotation may provide a clinically important benefit over traditional sling immobilization, but the difference in recurrence rates did not achieve significance with the numbers available.