Rib fractures in blunt chest trauma: factors that influence daily patient controlled opiate use during acute care.

Traumatic injury continues to be a burden to health services with over 400,000 presentations per year to Queensland Emergency Departments, comprising almost 30% of the total workload.[1] Most presentations are related to blunt trauma, commonly presenting following a motor vehicle crash or fall. Rib fractures in the setting of blunt chest wall injury occur in upwards of 10-20% of trauma presentations. [2-4] Blunt chest wall injury leads to impairment of the ventilatory function by firstly, altering respiratory mechanics due to the deformed chest wall and secondly, by an increased shunt fraction due to associated pulmonary contusions and shearing of lung parenchyma.
Source: Injury - Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Source Type: research