Background: Body fractures of the scapula are generally treated nonoperatively, and few functional deficits have been reported. Whereas prior investigators have presented radiographic and surgeon-based outcomes, we used a patient-based outcome questionnaires and objective range of motion and muscle-strength testing to evaluate a series of patients who had received nonoperative care for a fracture of the body of the scapula.

Methods: We identified twenty-three patients (seventeen men and four women with a mean age of forty-four yours) who had sustained an isolated fracture of the body of the scapula. All patients were treated non-operatively. At a mean of sixty months, and a minimum of thirty months, outcomes were measured with the Constant shoulder score, the DASH (Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand) and the RAND 36 (Rand 36 item Health Survey) patient questionnaires. Additionally we …

Results: On all scores a good to excellent result was obtained in those patients with an isolated scapular fracture. In those cases in which the scapular fracture was a part of a multi-trauma, the amount of accompanying injuries correlated with the inferior result.

Conclusions: Overall outcome of scapular fractures is good but the final result is dictated by the severity of accompanying injuries.