Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg.  1997 Aug;30(8):803-808.

Treatment of multiple rib fracture and flail chest with Judet's strut: 105 Case Report

• Park BS
• Cho WJ
• Oh JW
• Kwack MJ

Abstract

There were 105 patients with multiple rib fracture or flail chest who had underwent surgical rib fixation using Judet's strut from Aug. 1989 to Aug. 1995. They were 86 men and 19 women, and the age distribution was from 17 to 77(mean 48+/-12). The most common cause of accident was a traffic accident(81%). The mean number of rib fracture was 5.5 and the distribution of patient were flail chest(72, 64.7%), severe displaced rib Fracture(18, 17.1%), traumatic chest wall deformity(10, 95%) and others(5, 4.7%). The operative mortality was 1 patient(0.96%) and the incidence of postoperative complication were 13 patients(12.3%). The duration of perioperative artificial ventilator therapy was 90.5+/-22.6 hours. Our method allowed shorter duration of an artificial ventilation and decreased a functional sequelae. We find this technique to be better than previously published methods, since it provides better stabilization and immobilization of the ribs and thus obviates the need for artificial ventilation and prevents post-traumatic chest deformity.

Keyword

rib fracture; Flail chest; Rib strut

MeSH Terms

Age Distribution
Congenital Abnormalities
Female
Flail Chest*
Humans
Immobilization
Incidence
Male
Mortality
Postoperative Complications
Rib Fractures*
Ribs*
Thoracic Wall
Thorax
Ventilation
Ventilators, Mechanical