Montoya return delayed until Monaco?

There is much speculation that Juan Montoya will also miss the Spanish GP this coming weekend because he simply has not had enough time to heal, having broke the scapula, a very large bone in the back of the shoulder. To understand why we doubt he will make the is weekend's race after being out just five weeks, read on.

The scapulas are the large, flat, triangular bones that form the back part of the shoulder. They are covered by muscles on both surfaces which attach to the ribs and spine and then to the muscles of the arm.

The scapula and humerus form the glenohumeral joint. This is what you would normally think of as your ‘shoulder joint’. The glenohumeral joint is a ball-and-socket joint, consisting of the head of the humerus (ball) and the glenoid fossa (socket), which is formed by a slightly hollowed portion of the end of the shoulder blade.

The scapula can be fractured in 3 different areas: the body of the scapula; the neck of the scapula or glenoid (which connects the humerus—upper arm bone—to the shoulder joint); or the acromion process (which connects to the acromioclavicular joint bone in the shoulder).

Because a fracture of the body of the scapula is often associated with other, more serious injuries, like those suffered in a motorcycle accident, diagnosis of a fracture of the body of the scapula is often overlooked. It is commonly associated with rib fractures.

If the fracture is not associated with other life-threatening injuries, a sling or shoulder immobilizer may be used for 1-to-2 weeks until the pain subsides. Soon after, light exercises for the shoulder area are recommended.

Many fractures of the scapula result from high-impact accidents, such as being thrown from a motorcycle. Almost nine times out of 10, those with fractures of the scapula also suffer from life-threatening injuries, including rib fractures, lung injuries, head and spinal chord injuries.

If asked to move their arm, patients with a broken scapula cannot do so without extreme pain. If there is no feeling in the arm, physicians will check for nerve injury in the neck and shoulder regions. Dynomed.com