Bend and Snap: New Interventions for Rib Fractures
"exec" writes:
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
By stabilizing fractured and partially dislocated ribs, physicians can improve patient quality of life according to a new multicenter study
[...] As recently published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, patients who underwent SSRF [Surgical Stabilization of Rib Fractures] for three or more rib fractures with partial dislocation reported less pain on the numeric pain scale and a better quality of life after their stabilization surgery.
"This research shows that patients who have partially displaced fractures as well as some pulmonary compromise also benefit from a procedure that is usually reserved for a more severely injured cohort," said Eriksson.
[...] The fractured ribs took just as long to completely heal, but the patients' experiences during this process were far superior, and they reported feeling less pain and easier breathing throughout.
Patients also experienced fewer complications from their rib fractures. By opening the chest, addressing any additional injuries, guiding the bones back into position and removing any excess blood from the area, surgeons decreased the chances that study participants would have any additional bleeding or fluid accumulation in that space.
And the difference was statistically significant. Surgeons reported that in the group that underwent SSRF, there was a zero percent pleural space complication rate from their patients' injuries, while the group that did not undergo the procedure experienced a 10% complication rate.
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