dislocation

dislocation,

displacement of a body part, usually a bone. When a bone is dislocated, the ends of opposing bones are usually forced out of connection with one another. In the process, bruising of tissues and tearing of ligaments may occur. The condition may be congenital, but usually it is the result of injury. In some persons recurrent dislocation, usually of the jaw or of the knee, is brought on by only slight provocation. Manipulation, bandages, splints, and other appliances are used to reposition the dislocated part. Occasionally corrective surgery may be required.

Dislocation

displacement of the joint ends of bones, preventing them from making proper contact. Depending on the degree of displacement, dislocations can be complete (complete separation of the joint ends) or partial—subluxation (in which the joint surfaces remain in partial contact). The peripheral part of a limb (that is, the part located farther away from the trunk) is considered dislocated. For example, when the dislocation is in the knee joint, the tibia is considered dislocated; when it is in the hip joint, the femur is considered dislocated. The spine is an exception—the higher vertebra is considered dislocated.

A distinction is made between congenital and acquired dis-locations. Congenital dislocations occur as a result of mal-development of the fetus inside the uterus—underdevelopment of the joint socket and head of the femur (dysplasia). Dislocations of the hip joint are most common (two to five per 1,000 newborn); dislocation of the kneecap and knee joint are more rare. In infants, dislocation of the hip is manifested by asymmetry of the folds on the inner surface of the thighs, limited abduction of the leg, and so forth. When the infant begins to walk and later, symptoms include limping and relative shortening of one leg. In cases of bilateral dislocation, the child waddles. The symptoms of congenital dislocations of the kneecap are pain, complete immobility of the joint, inflammation of the joint, and hemarthrosis; the children walk poorly and fall frequently. Treatment of congenital dislocations of the hip—reduction and application of special splints or plaster casts—should begin as early as possible. Results are best in infants under three months old and sometimes even in children up to two years old. If the treatment shows no results in children two to four years old, surgery is indicated. Prevention includes orthopedic examination of the newborn. A child should not be tightly swaddled or, indeed, swaddled at all. The legs should not be forcibly straightened, and the child should not be made to stand up prematurely (before it stands up by itself).

Acquired dislocations are the result of injuries. They may be traumatic or caused by disease (for example, osteomyelitis and poliomyelitis), pathological or spontaneous.

In most cases traumatic dislocations are caused by indirect injury, when the place where force is applied is separated from the injured joint. (For example, a fall on the hand while the arm is outstretched may cause dislocation of the shoulder joint.) A traumatic dislocation may be caused by abrupt contraction of muscles that causes movement beyond the normal mobility of the particular joint (for example, dislocation of the lower jaw after opening the mouth too wide). Dislocations from a direct injury, such as a blow in the region of a joint, occur less frequently. Children from one to three years old may suffer from so-called dislocations from stretching, which may occur in the shoulder and elbow joints if the child’s arm is sharply jerked when he stumbles while being led by the hand. Symptoms of dislocations from stretching include severe pain in the region of the joint, deformity, and impairment or loss of movement.

The joint capsule is almost always torn in a dislocation, and the tendons, muscles, bones, blood vessels, and nerves may be injured. Such dislocations are called complicated dislocations. Dislocations may be closed—without injury to the skin over the joint—or open, when there is a wound penetrating the joint cavity. Sometimes a dislocation recurs even after slight exertion, as a result of considerable stretching of the joint capsule and ligaments or incorrect treatment. This is called a habitual dislocation, which most often affects the shoulder joint.

Pathological dislocations occur most frequently in the hip and shoulder joints as a result of destruction of the joint surfaces by a pathological process. Paralytic dislocations are found in cases of paralysis or paresis of the muscles surrounding the joint. This type of dislocation seems to arise spontaneously, without any appreciable application of external force—for example, while walking, turning in bed, and so forth.

First aid includes fixation of the injured extremity with a triangular bandage, splint, and so forth. Treatment involves reduction of the joint ends (by a physician only, in order to prevent additional traumatization of the tissues) and immobilization of the joint as soon as the diagnosis has been made; this is followed by functional therapy, including exercise and massage. Surgery is indicated for dislocations that have gone unattended for three weeks. In cases of pathological dislocations, the disease that led to the dislocation is treated. Surgery is sometimes necessary to restore functioning of the joint.

REFERENCES

Khromov, B. M. Vyvikhi i perelomy, 2nd ed. Leningrad, 1960.
Volkov, M. V. Diagnostika i lechenie khronicheskogo vyvikha bedra. Moscow, 1969.

V. L. ANDRIANOV

dislocation

[‚dis·lō′kā·shən] (crystallography) A defect occurring along certain lines in the crystal structure and present as a closed ring or a line anchored at its ends to other dislocations, grain boundaries, the surface, or other structural feature. Also known as line defect. (geology) Relative movement of rock on opposite sides of a fault. Also known as displacement. (medicine) Displacement of one or more bones of a joint.

dislocation

[dis″lo-ka´shun] displacement of a bone from a joint; called also luxation. The most common ones involve a finger, thumb, shoulder, or hip; less common are those of the mandible, elbow, or knee. Symptoms include loss of motion, temporary paralysis of the joint, pain, swelling, and sometimes shock. Dislocations are usually caused by a blow or fall, although unusual physical effort may also cause one. A few dislocations, especially of the hip, are congenital, usually from a faulty construction of the joint, and are best treated in infancy with a cast and possibly surgery.
A dislocation should be treated as a fracture when first aid is administered. First aid includes checking for a pulse distal to the location and keeping the patient as still as possible. The patient is moved as a whole unit on a long board or a stretcher. As soon as possible the dislocation must be reduced by a surgeon.

Shoulder dislocation.complete dislocation one in which the surfaces are entirely separated.compound dislocation one in which the joint communicates with the outside air through a wound.congenital dislocation of the hip a former name for dysplasia of the hip" >developmental dysplasia of the hip.pathologic dislocation one due to disease of the joint or to paralysis of the muscles.simple dislocation one in which there is no communication with the air through a wound.

dis·lo·ca·tion

(dis'lō-kā'shŭn), Displacement of an organ or any part; specifically a disturbance or disarrangement of the normal relation of the bones at a joint in which there is complete loss of contact between the two articular surfaces. The direction of the dislocation is determined by the position of the distal part of the articulation. Synonym(s): dislocatio, luxation (1) [L. dislocatio, fr. dis-, apart, + locatio, a placing]

dislocation

(dĭs′lō-kā′shən)n.1. The act or process of dislocating or the state of having been dislocated: "the severe emotional dislocation experienced by millions of immigrants ... who were forced to separate themselves forever from the ... circle of people and places on which they had depended" (Doris Kearns Goodwin).2. Displacement of a body part, especially the temporary displacement of a bone from its normal position.3. Chemistry An imperfection in the crystal structure of a metal or other solid resulting from an absence of an atom or atoms in one or more layers of a crystal.4. Geology See displacement.

dislocation

Orthopedics The complete displacement of a joint surfaces. See Acromioclavicular dislocation, Congenital hip dislocation. Cf Subluxation.

dislocation

Separation, especially the disarticulation of the bearing surfaces of a joint with damage to the capsule and to the ligaments that hold the joint together.

Dislocation

Displacement of bones at a joint.Mentioned in: Wilderness Medicine

dis·lo·ca·tion

(dis'lō-kā'shŭn) Displacement of an organ or any part; specifically disturbance or disarrangement of normal relation of bones at a joint in which there is complete loss of contact between two articular surfaces.
Synonym(s): luxation (2) . [L. dislocatio, fr. dis-, apart, + locatio, a placing]

Patient discussion about dislocation

Q. I have dislocated my shoulder for the 3rd time, what I can do in order to avoid surgery? This is an old injury that keeps coming back. I have been dealing with this unstable shoulder for more than 5 years now. In the past few weeks I've visited 3 different doctors, all said that I can't avoid surgery this time or it with keep on dislocating spontaneously. Even though the docs are thinking that it's a lost cause,I got a really good feeling that I will manage to fix my shoulder 100% with no surgery involved. Is there any known therapy I should try before admitting to my surgery?A. Here (http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/generalshoulder/a/bankart_2.htm and http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/shouldersurgery/a/dislocation_3.htm) you can find a discussion about your dillema - surgery or not

Q. My neighbor's kid had a lens dislocation due to Marfan's disease. Is this a contagious thing? My neighbor's have a sweet 8 year old boy. he had a lens dislocation due to a connective tissue disease named Marfan (I think that the name). It sounds like a very serious condition. My boy is playing with this kid several hour a week. should I take him to the GP to see that his is not infected with this marfan thing?A. As in love and war so is in medicine the is no always nor never. It is probably the marfan that caused your neighbor kid the lens dislocation but you can never know for sure.
If you want there is nothing wrong in taking your boy for an annual check of an ophthalmologist.

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REFERENCES

dislocation

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Patient discussion about dislocation

dislocation

Synonyms for dislocation

noun disruption

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noun putting out of joint

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Synonyms for dislocation

noun a change in normal place or position

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Synonyms for dislocation

noun an event that results in a displacement or discontinuity

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Related Words

noun the act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue

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Related Words

noun a displacement of a part (especially a bone) from its normal position (as in the shoulder or the vertebral column)

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