A rare injury to a rear seat passenger: Bilateral fracture dislocation of the shoulders

Injury prevention measures in automobiles are mainly focused on the front seat passengers and driver. In the event of a head-on collision, rear seat passengers usually escape with minimal injuries. Most commonly observed injuries to rear passengers are to the head, chest wall or lower extremities. We report a case of bilateral anterior dislocation of the shoulders with asymmetrical fractures of the greater tuberosities in a 42-year-old man who was apparently injured in a head-on collision while travelling in a car as an unstrapped rear seat passenger. This kind of injury pattern in an unrestrained rear seat passenger is very unusual and has not been previously described.