Flail chest is a medical term describing multiple rib fractures, when ribs (usually 3 or more) are broken or dislocated in more than one place and are no longer completely connected to the other rib bones. When a person injured in this way breathes, the broken segment may move in a different way compared to the rest of the chest wall. Flail chest can cause a person to have difficulty breathing, in which case they may be given mechanical ventilation (machine-assisted breathing). Surgery is sometimes performed in order to reconnect the broken ribs.
The treatment of FC is directed toward the maintenance of good ventilation through minimization of progressive pulmonary injury and the prevention of complications. Till recently, the management was thought to be essentially conservative with support to ventilation by non-invasive or invasive, supplemented by good pain relief. Some recent…
