Pete is a 41 year old man who came to me to see if there was anything I could do about an old clavicle fracture. He had broken his clavicle in a motor bike accident 20 years ago and it had been fixed, however he said it never felt right.

He put up with it until a few months before coming to see me when it became increasingly painful and he was finding it difficult to move his arm after rock climbing.

We organised some new x-rays, which revealed the difficult problem we had. I believe that his fracture had healed in a malunited position despite the original plate and that over time and with his various activities he had managed to bend the plate.

The lump from the bent plate was obvious as was the shortening of the clavicle leading to poor posture.

We discussed the options of treatment and he was keen for me to remove the bent plate, re-fracture his clavicle and then bring it out to length before applying another plate. The operation took about an hour and a half but I think the results speak for themselves (see below).

The day after the operation, he said that his shoulder already had lost a lot of the pain he had experienced over the years.

I saw Pete most recently in February [2017] at which stage it was three and a half months since his surgery. The fracture had healed, he had a full range of motion and only a slight ache. I think he is only going to continue to improve over time.

He was delighted with the result and said his shoulder felt the best it had for 20 years.