Brachial plexus injury in association with fracture-dislocation of the shoulder.

Anterior dislocation of the shoulder is generally not associated with neurological compromise. We report three patients in whom a brachial plexus injury was caused by an anterior dislocation of the shoulder. One patient was further complicated by vascular involvement. The forces producing the injury are usually small, and the neurological trauma is likely to be neuropraxia. Conservative management is usually successful, and, in our patients, recovery took place after an average of six months.