• Ivan S Tarkin, Armodios Hatzidakis, Samuel C Hoxie, Charles E Giangara, and Reginald Q Knight.
• Saint Joseph Hospital/Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA. ivantarkin@cs.com
• Arthroscopy. 2003 Jan 1; 19 (1): 85-9.

AbstractTwo cases are presented that demonstrate the utility of arthroscopic intervention for the management of gunshot wounds to the shoulder. The first report involves a 24-year-old man with a retained bullet in his glenohumeral joint after a drive-by shooting The intra-articular bullet was retrieved arthroscopically avoiding chondral injury from the mechanical effects of a loose body as well as the potential local and systemic effects of lead toxicity. Irrigation and debridement was performed to evacuate joint debris, which could have served as a nidus for infection or inflammation. The other case describes a 19-year-old man who sustained a gunshot wound to the lateral portion of his upper arm resulting in a proximal humerus fracture along with a retained bullet in his subacromial space. The bullet was successfully removed arthroscopically avoiding a traditional exposure, which would have complicated his fracture care.

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