Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41772696›Full record

ArticleWorld journal of emergency surgery : WJES2026

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.

Michael David Huelskamp, Martial Mboulla Nzomo, Nicolas Horst, Laura Acar, Helena Duesing, Ursula Marschall, Michael Johannes Raschke, Steffen Rosslenbroich

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Article in World journal of emergency surgery : WJES, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Michael David HuelskampDepartment for Trauma-, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany. Michael.Huelskamp@ukmuenster.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4840-0471
Martial Mboulla NzomoBARMER, Wuppertal, Germany.
Nicolas HorstDepartment for Trauma-, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany.
Laura AcarBARMER, Wuppertal, Germany.
Helena DuesingDepartment for Trauma-, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany.
Ursula MarschallBARMER, Wuppertal, Germany.
Michael Johannes RaschkeDepartment for Trauma-, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany.
Steffen RosslenbroichDepartment for Trauma-, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSurgical stabilisation of rib fractures (SSRF) is a procedure that has been shown to reduce mortality and complications in patients with thoracic trauma. However, correct patient selection is required, since the immunological hit of a thoracic surgery in the context of trauma is not without risk. In this study we aimed to analyse real-world data on the effect of SSRF mortality and hospital length of stay.

methodsA retrospective propensity matched analysis of real-world health claims data of a German statutory health insurance company of Management of serial rib fractures and unstable thorax via SSRF compared to conservative treatment was performed. The primary endpoints were in-hospital mortality, 1 year post hospital mortality and intensive-care unit length of stay. Subgroup analyses with respect to age-group, overall injury severity and time-point of surgery were performed. Multivariate regression was used to confirm these results and analyse interaction between different variables.

resultsOverall, 62,011 patients with serial rib fractures were identified, of which 532 patients receiving SSRF and 532 receiving conservative management could be matched. The data showed a significant reduction in in-hospital mortality in the SSRF cohort (4.7% for SSRF versus 9.21% for conservative treatment, p = 0.005). Subgroup analysis showed this effect to be most pronounced in patients with high, but not extremely high injury severity (injury severity score (ISS) 16-24). The survival benefit could be demonstrated across age groups, although the extent of the benefit decreased with increasing age. Hospital length of stay was increased in the SSRF cohort, although this effect was driven through an increase in the low injury severity (ISS < 16 subgroup).

conclusionsOverall, the data shows that SSRF can lead to reduced mortality in appropriately selected patients. Based on this real-world data, patients across all age-groups with high but not extreme injury severity (ISS 16-24), in other words patients in whom the thoracic injury is a major component of overall injury severity, appear to benefit most.

Indexed as

Length of StayRib FracturesAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAge FactorsFemaleGermanyHospital MortalityHumansInjury Severity ScoreMaleMiddle AgedPropensity ScoreRetrospective StudiesChest traumaFlail chestRib fracturesSerial rib fracturesSSRFSurgical stabilisation of rib fractures

Identifiers

PMID41772696
PMCPMC13059353

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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.