Objective To evaluate clinical efficacy of four-claw Ti-planes for internal fixation of multiple rib fractures and flail chest. Methods Clinical data of 93 patients with multiple rib fractures and flail chest who were admittedto Shanghai Pudong Hospital from December 2011 to November 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 78 male and 15 female patients with their age of 20-80 years. All the patients received internal fixation of rib fractures using four-clawTi-planes. Finite element modeling and analysis were performed to investigate biomechanical behaviors of rib fractures after internal fixation with four-claw Ti-planes. Results The average number of rib fractures of the 93 patients was 5.9±2.1，and each patient received 3.8±1.3 four-claw Ti-planes for internal fixation. The operations were performed 6.3±3.2 days after admission. After the rib fractures were fixed with four-claw Ti-planes，rib dislocations and chest-wall collapse of flail chest were restored，and patients’ pain was relieved. Postoperative CT image reconstruction of the chest showed no dislocationor displacement at the fixation areas of the four-claw Ti-planes. Rib fractures were stabilized well，and normal contours of the chest were restored. Finite element analysis showed that the maximum bearable stress of the rib fractures after internal fixation with four-claw Ti-planes was twice as large as normal ribs. Conclusion Clinical outcomes of four-claw Ti-planesfor internal fixation of rib fractures are satisfactory with small incisions and less muscle injury of the chest wall，so this technique deserves wide clinical use.
Objective To study the indications, methods, and therapeutic effect of absorbable rib-connecting-pins fixation in the treatment of multi ple rib fractures. Methods Between March 2007 and September 2009, 40 patients with multiple rib fractures received internal fixation with absorbable rib-connecting-pins, including 8 one-side flail chest and 1 twoside flail chest. There were 32 males and 8 females with an average age of 39.8 years (range, 25-72 years). The injury was caused by traffic accident in 32 cases, fall ing from height in 6 cases, and blunt hitting in 2 cases. Preoperatively, imaging data of the chest X-ray or spiral CT three-dimensional (3D) examination showed that all patients had multiple ribs fractures and displacement. The number of fractured ribs was 4-10 (median, 6), and the fracture location ranged from the 2nd to the10th ribs. Of them, 28 cases were accompanied by hemathorax, pneumathorax or hemopneumothorax; 5 cases by thoracic organ injury; and 10 cases byother part trauma. The time from injury to hospital ization was less than 1 day in 26 cases, 1-3 days in 12 cases, and 3-6 days in 2 cases, and the time from hospital ization to operation was 3 hours to 3 days (mean, 1.2 days). Results The median fixation rib number was 5 (range, 3-8). The mean operative time, the time in bed, and hospital ization days were 32 minutes (range, 15-50 minutes), 4.5 days (range, 2-7 days), and 11.2 days (range, 5-18 days), respectively. All incisions healed by first intention. No pulmonary infection, pulmonary atelectasis, intrathoracic infection or other compl ications occurred. All cases were followedup 6-12 months (mean, 8 months). PaO2 [(86.6 ± 2.2) mmHg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa)] and SpO2 (97.2% ± 0.6%) at 2 hours after operation were obviously improved when compared with preoperative ones [PaO2 (53.6 ± 4.7) mm Hg and SpO2 (86.2% ± 1.8%)], showing significant differences (t=2.971, P=0.005; t=2.426, P=0.020). The chest X-ray films or spiral CT 3D indicated that fracture of rib healed within 3-6 months (mean, 4.5 months) after operation. Conclusion Severe collapsed chest wall orflail chest caused by fracture of multiple ribs should be treated by absorbable rib-connecting-pins, which is a simple, firm, and effective method.
ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy and safety of internal rib fixation for patients with multiple rib fractures. MethodsA total of 141 patients with multiple rib fractures who were admitted to Department of Thoracic Surgery of the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University between January 2010 and January 2013 and whose chest trauma score (AIS-ISS) was 9-20 (16±2) were recruited in this study. Using the random number generator of SPSS, all the patients were randomly divided into an internal fixation group [69 patients including 41 males and 28 females with their age of 25-61 (37±4) years] who underwent internal rib fixation, and a control group [72 patients including 43 males and 29 females with their age of 24-63 (35±5) years] who received conservative therapy. Plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) patients' satisfaction degree with thoracic appearance,incidence of lung infection,pain-relieving efficacy,postoperative chest drainage duration and length of hospital stay were compared between the 2 groups. ResultsPlasma CRP levels of the internal fixation group were not statistically different from those of the control group in 1-3 days after injury (P>0.05) but were significantly lower than those of the control group in 4-12 days after injury (P<0.05). Patients' satisfaction degree with thoracic appearance (97.1% vs. 48.6%,P<0.05) and pain-relieving efficiency (91.3% vs. 68.1%,P<0.05) of the internal fixation group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Incidence of lung infection of the internal fixation group was significantly lower than that of the control group(11.6% vs. 37.5%,P<0.01). Postoperative chest drainage duration [(3±2) d vs. (7±4) d,P<0.05] and length of hospital stay [(9±4) d vs. (15±7) d,P<0.05] of the internal fixation group were significantly shorter than those of the control group. ConclusionsFor patients with multiple rib fractures and stable vital signs,internal fixation surgery is helpful to shorten length of hospital stay, relieve chest pain and improve thoracic appearance. It can also reduce lung inflammation and increase surgical safety so as to improve treatment outcomes of multiple rib fractures.
Objectives To systematically review the efficacy of conservative treatment and open reduction with internal fixation for multiple rib fractures. Methods We searched WanFang Data, CNKI, VIP, PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library and Web of Science from inception to December 2017 to collect studies on conservative treatment and open reduction with internal fixation for multiple rib fractures. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. RevMan 5.3 software was used for meta-analysis. Results A total of 16 studies were included, involving 1 374 patients, 723 patients in the surgical group and 651 patients in the conservative group. The meta-analysis showed that the length of stay in the ICU (MD=–3.41, 95%CI –4.92 to –2.43, P<0.000 01), total length of stay (MD=–7.60, 95 %CI–10.67 to–4.53,P<0.000 01), incidence of pulmonary arylene (RR=0.40, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.54,P<0.000 01), incidence of lung infections (RR=0.43, 95%CI 0.30 to 0.61,P<0.000 01), and incidence of chest wall malformation (RR=0.05, 95%CI 0.03 to 0.11,P<0. 0.000 01) in the surgical group were superior to the conservative group. Conclusions Compared with conservative treatment, open reduction with internal fixation can significantly improve the recovery time of patients with multiple rib fractures, reduce hospitalization time, the incidence of perioperative complications, and significantly enhance the prognosis of patients, which is more conducive to the rehabilitation of patients.
The incidence of rib fracture in patients with chest trauma is about 70%. Simple rib fractures do not need special treatment. Multiple rib fractures and flail chest are critical cases of blunt trauma, which often cause serious clinical consequences and need to be treated cautiously. Nowadays, there is a controversy about the diagnosis and treatment of multiple rib fractures and flail chest. In the past, most of the patients were treated by non-operative treatment, and only less than 1% of the patients with flail chest underwent surgery. In recent years, studies have confirmed that surgical reduction and internal fixation can shorten the hospital stay, and reduce pain and cost for patients with flail chest, but there is still a lack of relevant clinical consensus and guidelines for diagnosis and treatment, which leads to great differences in clinical diagnosis and treatment plans. This article reviewed the treatment, surgical indications and surgical timing of multiple rib fractures and flail chest.