After repeated shoulder dislocations, an MRI scan may be used to assess soft tissue damage.

[citation needed] Posterior dislocations are uncommon, and are typically due to the muscle contraction from electric shock or seizure.

[citation needed] Posterior dislocations may go unrecognized, especially in an elderly person[15] and in people who are in the state of unconscious trauma.

This condition is also called luxatio erecta because the arm appears to be permanently held upward or behind the head.

In this procedure a weight is attached to the wrist while the injured arm is hanging off an examination table for between 20 and 30 minutes.

There is no strong evidence of a difference in outcomes when the arm is immobilized in internal versus external rotation following an anterior shoulder dislocation.

[22][23] A 2008 study of 300 people for almost six years found that conventional shoulder immobilisation in a sling offered no benefit.

[25] Arthroscopic surgery techniques may be used to repair the glenoidal labrum, capsular ligaments, biceps long head anchor or SLAP lesion or to tighten the shoulder capsule.

[26] Arthroscopic stabilization surgery has evolved from the Bankart repair, a time-honored surgical treatment for recurrent anterior instability of the shoulder.

[27] However, the failure rate following Bankart repair has been shown to increase markedly in people with significant bone loss from the glenoid (socket).

[28] In such cases, improved results have been reported with some form of bone augmentation of the glenoid such as the Latarjet operation.

[32] Damaged ligaments, including labral tears, occurring as a result of posterior dislocations may be treated arthroscopically.

[citation needed] There remains those situations characterized by multidirectional instability, which have failed to respond satisfactorily to rehabilitation, falling under the AMBRI classification previously noted.

[33] Most recently, the procedure has been carried out using radio frequency technology to shrink the redundant shoulder capsule (thermal capsular shrinkage);[34] while long-term results of this development are currently unproven, recent studies show thermal capsular shrinkage have higher failure rates with the highest number of cases of instability recurrence and re-operation.

[31] Following shoulder reduction, most people are given self-management advice on recovery, such as home exercises, but some receive additional physiotherapy.

A randomised controlled trial showed similar shoulder function after 6 months between those who received self-management advice only and those who had extra physiotherapy.