Problem statement On a routine basis, 20% of admissions in a trauma center are due to thoracic trauma, and half of them report of rib fractures. In otherwise healthy patients, the mortality rate of the flail chest injuries has been reported as ~25%, which is significantly increased to 42% in the presence of pulmonary contusions. Such injuries are categorized based on their severity for each body part using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS).
A combination of the squared values of the 3 highest AIS scores provides the Injury Severity Score (ISS), a validated predictor of mortality in patients. Based on evidence from clinical studies, surgical fixation is considered as a solution to manage flail chest in trauma centers. With surgical fixation, improved clinical outcomes are observed in terms of reduced duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit length of stay (ICU LOS),…
