Where We Have Been, Where We Are Now, and Where We Are Going: Preliminary Results With Operative Fixation of Flail Chest.

Flail chest injury occurs from severe impact on the chest cage causing fractures of more than 3 consecutive ribs resulting in instability of that portion of the chest wall. Flail chest injury remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Chronic pain and disability remain long-term complications of this injury. Standard treatment has been internal chest wall support with mechanical ventilation, aggressive pulmonary toilet, and pain management. Recent studies have shown operative stabilization in selected patients with flail chest to have advantages over nonoperative stabilization. These studies have shown a decrease in ventilator days, length of stay, and decreased pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]