Rib fixation: becoming popular but does it benefit patients?

Prof Marasco

by Anne Crawford

A paper by Monash University researchers and surgeons at the Alfred Hospital has cast doubt on the growing practice of rib fixation in some patients with chest injuries.

Fractured ribs are a common injury in trauma patients. At worst, what’s termed ‘flail chest’ – when ribs become detached from the rest of the ribcage – is associated with life-threatening injuries and a significant mortality.

Surgeon Professor Silvana Marasco was first author on a paper published in the international journal Injury that examined long-term quality of life in patients who underwent rib fixation. Rib fixation, which uses a minimally invasive operation to insert and screw on contoured titanium plates to ribs, is relatively new.

Analysis of bone healing in flail chest injury: do we need to fix both fractures per rib?

CCS researchers Dr Silvana Marasco, Assoc Prof Susan Liew and Prof Dinesh Varma have co-written a study which looks at bone healing in flail chest injury.

According to the article, surgical rib fixation for severe rib fracture injuries is generating increasing interest in the medical literature. It is well documented that poorly healed fractured ribs can lead to chronic pain, disability, and deformity.