Management Pathways for Traumatic Rib Fractures—Importance of Surgical Stabilisation

Abstract

Rib fractures occur in almost half of blunt chest wall trauma victims in Australia. They are associated with a high rate of pulmonary complications, and consequently, with increased discomfort, disability, morbidity, and mortality. This article summarises thoracic cage anatomy and physiology, and chest wall trauma pathophysiology. Institutional clinical strategies and clinical pathway “bundles of care” are usually available to reduce mortality and morbidity in patients with chest wall injury. This article analyses multimodal clinical pathways and intervention strategies that include surgical stabilisation of rib fractures (SSRF) in thoracic cage trauma patients with severe rib fractures, including flail chest and simple multiple rib fractures. The management of thoracic cage injury should include a multidisciplinary team approach with proper consideration of all potential avenues and treatment modalities (including SSRF) to obtain the best patient outcomes. There is good evidence for the positive prognostic role of SSRF as part of a “bundle of care” in the setting of severe rib fractures such as ventilator-dependent patients and patients with flail chest. However, the use of SSRF in flail chest treatment is uncommon worldwide, although early SSRF is standard practice at our hospital for patients presenting with multiple rib fractures, flail chest, and/or severe sternal fractures. Several studies report that SSRF in patients with multiple simple rib fractures lead to positive patient outcomes, but these studies are mostly retrospective studies or small case–control trials. Therefore, prospective studies and well-designed RCTs are needed to confirm the benefits of SSRF in patients with multiple simple rib fractures, as well as in elderly chest trauma patients where there is scant evidence for the clinical outcomes of SSRF intervention. When initial interventions for severe chest trauma are unsatisfactory, SSRF must be considered taking into account the patient’s individual circumstances, clinical background, and prognostic projections.