ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2026
Surgical Stabilization of Rib Fractures in Geriatric Trauma Patients: A National Trauma Data Bank Review.
Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Surgical Stabilization of Rib Fractures in Geriatric Trauma Patients: A National Trauma Data Bank Review.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Article
- Surgical Stabilization of Rib Fractures: Current Evidence and Considerations for Posterior Rib Fractures.Annals of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery : official journal of the Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons of Asia · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRib fractures are common and increase mortality in older adult patients. Early surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF), < 72 h from admission, has been shown to improve outcomes in younger patients. We hypothesize that patients ≥ 65 years requiring SSRF will have improved outcomes with early SSRF.
methodsThis was a retrospective cohort analysis of patients ≥ 65 years between 1/1/2018 and 12/31/2022 who underwent SSRF and were captured in the National Trauma Data Bank. Patients who died within 24 h were excluded. Demographic and injury characteristics, comorbidities, hospital events and discharge dispositions were captured. Study groups were early (< 72 h) versus late SSRF. Primary outcomes were hospital length of stay (HLOS), intensive care unit LOS (ILOS), duration of mechanical ventilation (DMV), and mortality. With early SSRF as the reference group, multivariable analysis was conducted.
resultsFive thousand one hundred twenty-nine patients met inclusion criteria. Three thousand seventy (59.8%) underwent early SSRF and 2059 (40.1%) underwent late SSRF. Early SSRF was associated with shorter HLOS (9 vs. 14 days), ILOS (6 vs. 9 days), and DMV (5 vs. 9 days) (all p < 0.001). There was no difference in mortality (4.7% vs. 5.3%, p = 0.23). Early fixation was associated with fewer complications including unplanned intubation (6.6% vs. 13.5%), tracheostomy (1.9% vs. 5.3%), acute respiratory distress syndrome (0.9% vs. 1.7%), and pneumonia (0.2% vs. 0.7%) (all p < 0.001). On multivariable analysis, HLOS, ILOS, and DMV increased with late fixation (all p < 0.001).
conclusionEarly SSRF is associated with improved outcomes and fewer complications in older adult patients with rib fractures. Further study will guide treatment protocols for the growing population of older adult trauma patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.