Logo

Log In Sign Up |  An official publication of: American College of Emergency Physicians
Navigation
  • Home
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
  • Clinical
    • Airway Managment
    • Case Reports
    • Critical Care
    • Guidelines
    • Imaging & Ultrasound
    • Pain & Palliative Care
    • Pediatrics
    • Resuscitation
    • Trauma & Injury
  • Resource Centers
    • mTBI Resource Center
  • Career
    • Practice Management
      • Benchmarking
      • Reimbursement & Coding
      • Care Team
      • Legal
      • Operations
      • Quality & Safety
    • Awards
    • Certification
    • Compensation
    • Early Career
    • Education
    • Leadership
    • Profiles
    • Retirement
    • Work-Life Balance
  • Columns
    • ACEP4U
    • Airway
    • Benchmarking
    • Brief19
    • By the Numbers
    • Coding Wizard
    • EM Cases
    • End of the Rainbow
    • Equity Equation
    • FACEPs in the Crowd
    • Forensic Facts
    • From the College
    • Images in EM
    • Kids Korner
    • Medicolegal Mind
    • Opinion
      • Break Room
      • New Spin
      • Pro-Con
    • Pearls From EM Literature
    • Policy Rx
    • Practice Changers
    • Problem Solvers
    • Residency Spotlight
    • Resident Voice
    • Skeptics’ Guide to Emergency Medicine
    • Sound Advice
    • Special OPs
    • Toxicology Q&A
    • WorldTravelERs
  • Resources
    • ACEP.org
    • ACEP Knowledge Quiz
    • Issue Archives
    • CME Now
    • Annual Scientific Assembly
      • ACEP14
      • ACEP15
      • ACEP16
      • ACEP17
      • ACEP18
      • ACEP19
    • Annals of Emergency Medicine
    • JACEP Open
    • Emergency Medicine Foundation
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Medical Editor in Chief
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Awards
    • Authors
    • Article Submission
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright Information

Incrementalization of the Cunningham Technique for Anterior Shoulder Reduction

By Richard M. Levitan, MD, FACEP | on July 24, 2019 | 6 Comments
Features
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
Print-Friendly Version

Reference

  1. Cunningham N. A new drug free technique for reducing anterior shoulder dislocations. Emerg Med (Fremantle). 2003;15(5-6):521-524.

You Might Also Like
  • How to Use Point-of-Care Ultrasound to Identify Shoulder Dislocation
  • Get a Grip on Identifying Dislocations and Reduction Techniques
  • How to Perform Positive Pressure Technique for Nasal Foreign Body Removal
Explore This Issue
ACEP Now: Vol 37 – No 08 – August 2018, ACEP Now: Vol 38 – No 07 – July 2019

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Topics: Cunningham Techniqueincrementalizationshoulder reduction

Related

  • New Study Compares POCUS with X-Ray for Shoulder Dislocations

    May 21, 2020 - 0 Comment

Current Issue

ACEP Now: November 2025

Download PDF

Read More

About the Author

Richard M. Levitan, MD, FACEP

Richard M. Levitan, MD, FACEP, is an adjunct professor of emergency medicine at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine in Hanover, N.H., and a visiting professor of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. He works clinically at a critical care access hospital in rural New Hampshire and teaches cadaveric and fiber-optic airway courses.

View this author's posts »

6 Responses to “Incrementalization of the Cunningham Technique for Anterior Shoulder Reduction”

  1. July 28, 2019

    Frank Fower Reply

    Sounds wonderful, and Works Good.
    I have been using the same Incriminating Engineering Since 1993 : though : I Call it Baby Steps
    I have one Extra Step here : I massage the scapula and Trapezius while I am taking the patient about how to straighten and square their shoulders: then push the Tip
    Lower Scapular Angle Medialy towards The Vertebral Column : then go to the front to sit and Proceed
    Most of the Times: its Already Reduced : pain free
    No Meds.

    FrankFower MD, FACEP

  2. July 28, 2019

    Jeffrey Freeman Reply

    Like most shoulder reduction techniques, an experienced operator has learned subtle improvements that improve their success in their hands. These incremental improvements are rarely published (as are few of the subtle clues to better procedures – hence the better outcomes for ‘experts’). Thanks for publishing these – there’s no question that a fast Cunningham expertly done is one of the easiest ways to put in a shoulder. I agree with the xray comments as well.
    [I’m waiting for incrementalization of fecal impaction, chart documentation and getting out early….]

  3. July 28, 2019

    DAVID O JONES Reply

    Tried many times and it never works

  4. July 29, 2019

    Curtis Henderson, PhD, DO, FACEP Reply

    Thank you.
    I have practice incrementalization unwittingly for decades of practice; I always called it superstition! I realized long ago if , after a few times of success, I engage a particular mindset (focus), set up exactly the same way and performed a procedure in a similar way , my success would continue. This would include laceration repair, LPs, intubation, procedural sedation, closed thoracostomy, fracture/dislocation reduction and the other many complicated intense actions we do. There is virtually no exception to this approach, but it takes time to learn this and to proceed with style and finesse. This article is pointed in its conclusions. I have not tried the Cunningham approach, but I will.
    Regards

  5. June 27, 2020

    Marna Greenberg Reply

    The trick is to have the person assisting on the patient’s posterior to press gently medially on the lower scapular angle (it is really this that does the most , and similar to scapular manipulation reductions just doing it sitting up instead of prone)

  6. October 20, 2020

    Matt DiStefano Reply

    Like all things, the devil is the in details. You need to understand the anatomy, trust the process, and be patient. We have a case series that we’ll publish in 2021 of 183 shoulder reductions, 62% of which were accomplished via Cunningham technique. Rich you can contact me through casted.ca if you want to chat.

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


*
*


Wiley
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertise
  • Cookie Preferences
Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 2333-2603