We reported on a case of posterior dislocation of the sternoclavicular joint redislocated postoperatively. A twenty-eight year-old male, a Class A international motocross rider, fell of a motorcycle. He went to a local hospital, where no fracture was pointed out. He visited our hospital complaining of anterior chest pain and dyspnea on exertion one month after injury. The proximal end of the right clavicle was not palpated, but there was a slight tenderness. Radiographies and CT scans showed the proximal end of clavicle was posteriorly dislocated. As a DePalma method under general anesthesia failed in reducing the dislocation, an open reduction was performed three month after injury. The proximal end of the clavicle was dislocated posteriorly, which was reduced following the excision of the scar tissue in the sternoclavicular joint. To maintain the reduced position, the joint capsule was reconstructed with the right gracilis tendon grafted through the bony tunnels created in the sternum and clavicle with the reinforcement with No.5 non-absorbable suture. A figure-of-eight bandage was used for four weeks postoperatively. Redislocation was revealed with, a CT scan two month after first operation, and a second operation was done four month after first operation. The left gracilis tendon was grafted through the bony tunnels newly created in the sternum and clavicle. In addition, the sternoclavicular joint was temporarily fixed with two Kirshner wires. The figure-of-eight bandage was used for eight weeks after surgery. The clinical course after the second operation was uneventful. The posterior dislocation of the sternoclavicular joint is relatively rare. In chronic cases, manual reduction is always unsuccessful and the open reduction is required. In these cases, temporary internal fixation was necessary following open reduction and reconstruction of the joint capsule to maintain the reduced position.
