Outcomes of Trauma Patients with Flail Chest and Surgical Rib Stabilization

Am Surg. 2021 Nov 21:31348211056260. doi: 10.1177/00031348211056260. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe goal of this project was to describe the current practices of this institution and identify which patients benefit from surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF). A total of 1429 trauma patients admitted to our Level 1 center with rib fractures between January 1, 2014 and June 22, 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Flail chest was observed in 43 (3.01%) patients. Surgical stabilization of rib fractures was pursued in 27 of all patients (1.89%). Twenty-four flail chest patients required intubation (ETT). Nineteen were not intubated (NoET). Of the ETT group, 8 underwent SSRF and 16 did not. Those who had SSRF had a shorter ventilator LOS (7.1 vs 15.7 d) and ICU LOS (9.8 vs 11.9 d). Surgical stabilization of rib fractures has shown success in managing flail chest. In intubated patients with flail chest, fixation seems to decrease ICU stays and the duration of ventilation. We believe we need to perform SSRF on more patients with flail chest.PMID:34806413 | DOI:10.1177/00031348211056260

Source: The American Surgeon - November 22, 2021 Category: Surgery Authors: Colten A Yahn Alexander P McNally Kyle Deivert Tyler Fraga Reem A Sharaf Alddin Michael T Martyak Jay N Collins Source Type: research