Latarjet
Lights & Shadows
Rome - Auditorium del Seraphicum
October 23^rd 2010 (v.)
1^st Announcement

The shoulder is not a single joint but its movement is connected to several perfectly synchronized joints stabilized by capsular ligament complexes and activated by different muscle groups.

Shoulder stability and mobility must necessarily find a compromise.

Several shoulder disorders are in fact located in structures involved in stability (capsular-labral complex) and motility (cuff tendons) and are triggered by degenerative (arthrosis) and traumatic processes (fractures).

(see Disorders)


Hence the shoulder turns out clearly to be a complex made up of three bones (the scapula, the humerus, the clavicle) interconnected through muscles, tendons and ligaments.

The clavicle connects the shoulder to the chest, keeping it far from the trunk and it is connected through the acromioclavicular joint to the long, flat and triangular scapula.

The acromion extends from the scapula to form a sort of roof-like structure.

The short head of the biceps originates from the coracoid process of the scapula.

The humeral head and the glenoid cavity with the glenohumeral ligaments form the glenohumeral joint, the most mobile in the body. Briefly the shoulder is the result of coordinated movements of several joints: the glenohumeral, the scapulothoracic, the acromioclavicular and the pseudo subacromial. Between the acromion and the cuff is located a bursa acting as a cushion between tendons and the overlying bone. This small sac can become easily inflamed. (see information on shoulder)