ANALYSIS OF PATIENTS WITH BLUNT THORAX TRAUMA AND RIB FRACTURE; EVALUATION OF 201 CASES

Abstract

Introduction: Aim of this study is to evalute the association of rib fracture with pneumothorax, hemothorax, hemopneumothorax, lung contusion, subcutaneous emphysema, pneumomediastinum, sternum fracture and clavicula fracture in patients who admitted to our clinics with thorax traumaPatients and Methods: Between January 2017 and October 2018, 201 patients with thorax trauma and rib fracture who admitted to Afyon Health Sciences University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Thoracic Surgery and underwent treatment and follow up were included in the study. Age, sex, computerized tomography (CT) findings and duration of hospitalization of the patients were retrospectively evaluated.Results: Of the 201 patients with rib fracture, 152 were male, 49 were female, mean age was 51.46 and mean duration of hospitalization was 4 days. Total number of rib fracture was 716 and 430 of the fractures were deplased and 286 were non-deplased. Also 346 of the fractures were in the mid segment ribs (5-8th ribs) , 224 of them were in the high segment (1-4th ribs) and 146 of the fractures were in the lower ribs (9-12th ribs). Of the patients with rib fracture, 57.7% had pneumothorax, 44.1% had lung contusion, 27.9% had subcutaneous emphysema, 27.4% had hemothorax, 18.4% had hemopneumothorax, 10.9% had sternum fracture, 9.5% had clavicula fracture and 4.5% had pneumomediastinum. Discussion and conclusions: According to our study, traumatic rib fractures are most commonly in the deplased form and in the middle segment ribs (5-8th). Pathologies accompanying deplased rib fractures are more common than non-deplased fractures. Each complication should be evaluted individually and should be treated by the required method.