Retrospective analysis of 513 cases diagnosed with rib fracture secondary to blunt thorax trauma

Abstract

AimThis study aimed to analyze blunt chest trauma cases who were diag-nosed with rib fracture and to examine the regional differences likely to ap-pear in trauma cases and treatment approaches.Method513 cases who applied to the Emergency Service and Department of Thoracic Surgery between October 2013 and December 2014 due to blunt trauma and were diagnosed with rib fracture were retrospectively examined. The cases were evaluated in terms of etiological factors, thoracic, and other system injuries accompanying the rib fracture, prognosis, and the treatments ap-plied.ResultsIsolated rib fracture was present in 266 of the cases. Thoracic organ injuries such as pneumothorax, hemothorax, hemopneumothorax, lung contusion, or laceration and sternal fracture accompanying the rib fracture were present in 247 of the cases. While one or two rib fractures were detect-ed in 298 cases, six or more rib fractures were present in 28 cases. 78.2% of hemothorax cases, 85.3% of pneumothorax cases, 95.4% of hemopneu-mothorax cases, 81.8% of bilateral pneumothorax cases, 26% of bilateral hemothorax cases, and 71.4% of bilateral hemopneumothorax cases were treated by applying tube thoracostomy. 129 cases diagnosed with thoracic organ injury in addition to rib fracture but not subjected to surgical interven-tion, and 266 cases diagnosed with isolated rib fracture were discharged with full recovery after appropriate medical treatment.ConclusionMost of the rib fractures occurring due to blunt trauma are treated successfully with medical treatments and conservative approaches and do not need advanced surgical treatments.

Keywords

Additional Information

Publisher’s Note
Bayrakol MP remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional and institutional claims.

Rights and Permissions

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). To view a copy of the license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

View full license details →