Introduction: Acute shoulder injuries that are common here include acromioclavicular joint injuries, clavicle fractures, glenohumeral dislocations, proximal humerus fractures and rotator cuff tears. Glenohumeral dislocations are frequently attributed to contact sports, as well as bicycle accidents, falls and high-impact trauma. Patients present several specific characteristics that will depend on the type of dislocation. Objective: to detail the current information related to glenohumeral dislocation, in addition to its description, epidemiology, classification, clinical evaluation, imaging presentation, treatment and complications of the different types of glenohumeral dislocation. Methodology: a total of 32 articles were analyzed in this review, including review and original articles, as well as clinical cases, of which 20 bibliographies were used because the other articles were not relevant for this study. The sources of information were PubMed, Google Scholar and Cochrane; the terms used to search for information in Spanish, Portuguese and English were: glenohumeral dislocation, shoulder pain, upper limb dislocation, shoulder reduction, shoulder dislocation. Results: Shoulder dislocations are usually anterior. In recurrent anterior dislocation, most recurrences occur in the first 2 years and mostly in males. Age at the time of initial dislocation has the greatest influence; incidence is not related to the duration or type of immobilization. The approximate recurrence rate in all age zones is 50%, however it increases to 89% in 14 to 20 year olds. Conclusions: The shoulder joint is frequently associated with dislocations, accounting for a large percentage of all dislocations, with anterior shoulder dislocations being more common. Anatomical, clinical and imaging knowledge play an important role in the diagnosis, allowing a better classification of the type of dislocation, which has a better impact on the treatment. The immobilization and physiotherapeutic approach will vary depending on the pathology, the age of the patient, the existence of recurrence and other complications.