Trends in the incidence of rib and sternal fractures: a nationwide study of the Global Burden of Disease database, 1990-2019

Rib and sternal fractures present serious challenges to healthcare systems and trauma clinicians. One of the most common types of clinically significant blunt trauma, over 86,000 patients were affected by such injuries in England and Wales alone from 2008-2018.[1] Rib and sternal fractures are grouped on account of close anatomical and therapeutic relations and have been associated with significant morbidity and mortality primarily due to pulmonary complications.[2 –4] With mean financial costs exceeding €25,000 per patient, this subset of injuries is of substantial interest to policymakers, particularly as an increasing number of nations establish specialist major trauma infrastructure.[5,6] Several therapeutic interventions are available including oral a nalgesia, invasive analgesia (erector spinae plane nerve block, thoracic epidural) and rib fixation, with ongoing debate surrounding specific treatment indications and a lack of granularity in national guidelines.[7,8]
Source: Injury - Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Source Type: research