ArticleEuropean journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society2020
Early results after operatively versus non-operatively treated flail chest: a retrospective study focusing on outcome and complications.
Article in European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison of flail and multiple simple rib fracture patterns among patients included in rib fracture studies; A systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2025Pooled it
- Chest Wall Injury Society recommendations for long-term follow-up after nonoperatively and operatively managed traumatic rib and sternal fractures.The journal of trauma and acute care surgery · 2025Guideline
- A meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of randomised controlled trials comparing nonoperative and operative management of chest trauma with multiple rib fractures.World journal of emergency surgery : WJES · 2024Pooled it
- Surgical versus non-surgical treatment of flail chest: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2023Pooled it
- Fixation of flail chest or multiple rib fractures: current evidence and how to proceed. A systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2019Pooled it
- Rib Plating Versus Nonsurgical Treatment of Flail Chest: Comparison of Adverse Events in More than 12,500 Patients.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2026Article
- The impact of injury severity and age on short-and long-term mortality and hospital length of stay after surgical stabilisation of rib fractures (SSRF): a German population-based propensity-score matched investigation.World journal of emergency surgery : WJES · 2026Article
- Clinical value of surgical intervention and decision-making dilemmas for elderly patients of rib fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- Regional anaesthesia techniques for management of severe chest wall trauma: a major trauma centre retrospective observational study.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2025Observational
- Post-discharge complications and follow-up timing after hospitalization for traumatic rib fractures.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2025Article
- Conservative Treatment of Empyema Formation Following Intrathoracic Rib Fixation With Antibiotics and Tissue Plasminogen Activator/Dornase.Journal of medical cases · 2024Article
- Analysis of prognostic factors for postoperative complications and mortality in elderly patients undergoing emergency surgery for intestinal perforation or irreversible intestinal ischemia.Annals of surgical treatment and research · 2023Article
- Management Pathways for Traumatic Rib Fractures-Importance of Surgical Stabilisation.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Respiratory Function Tolerance of Rats with Vaying Degrees of Thoracic Volume Reduction.Orthopaedic surgery · 2023Article
- Surgical and perioperative management of flail chest with titanium plates: a French cohort series from a thoracic referral center.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2023Observational
- Surgical Rib Fixation in Obese Patients with Isolated Flail Chest Improves Outcomes: A Matched Cohort Study.World journal of surgery · 2022Article
- Rib Plating as an Effective Approach to Managing Traumatic Rib Injuries: A Review of the Literature.Cureus · 2022Review
- Surgical stabilization of serial rib fractures is advantageous in patients with relevant traumatic brain injury.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2022Article
- The Feasibility and Efficiency of Remote Spirometry System on the Pulmonary Function for Multiple Ribs Fracture Patients.Journal of personalized medicine · 2021Article
- Complications of clavicle fracture surgery in patients with concomitant chest wall injury: a retrospective study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeFlail chest was traditionally treated non-operatively using mechanical ventilation and pain control. In order to reduce the occurrence of ventilation-associated complications and long-term disability, operative rib fixation is becoming a proven standard therapy for these patients. However, the consequences of the surgical complications may influence success rates negatively. The aim of this study was to compare the outcome of flail chest treatment by surgical rib fixation with non-operative treatment, with special focus on the impact of surgical complications.
methodsA retrospective case series of operatively treated flail chest patients was compared with non-operatively treated patients. Patients' injury and treatment characteristics and outcome parameters (e.g., duration of mechanical ventilation, length of Intensive Care stay (ICLOS) and hospital length of stay (HLOS), mortality, surgery-related complications and pneumonia) were collected from the patients' medical files. Crude and matched-pairs analyses were performed in SPSS.
resultsTwenty-three operatively and 47 non-operatively treated patients were enrolled. Operatively treated patients required significantly shorter mechanical ventilation; median 4 days versus 12 days for the non-operative group (p = 0.011). The matched-pairs analysis also showed a lower pneumonia rate (35% versus 80%; p = 0.035) and a shorter HLOS (median 21 versus 23 days; p = 0.028) in the operative group. No significant differences in duration of ICLOS, and occurrence of other injury-related adverse events were found between both groups. Seven surgery-related complications occurred, of which three required invasive solutions.
conclusionsOperative fixation of a flail chest in trauma patients results in a lower rate of pneumonia, less mechanical ventilation days and shorter hospital stay, compared with non-operative treatment, but at the cost of surgery-related complications requiring invasive solutions in some cases.
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