Has the pendulum swung too far? Is it time to put the drill down?? Or, drill, baby, drill! While the number of rib plating cases has exploded the data supporting the practice is less-than-stellar. On this episode of the BIG T Trauma series Drs. Patrick Georgoff, Teddy Puzio, and Jason Brill bring you up to speed on rib plating.
If you haven’t already, we recommend you listen to Behind the Knife episode 298, published in May 2020. (https://behindtheknife.org/podcast/big-t-trauma-series-ep-10-rib-fractures/) This episode covers comprehensive management of rib fractures, including multimodal pain control, regional blocks, pulmonary toilet, BiPAP, etc.
NON-FLAIL CHEST
Randomized Controlled Trial of Surgical Rib Fixation to Nonoperative Management in Severe Chest Wall Injury, Ann Surgery 2023: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37317861/
Rib fixation in non-ventilator-dependent chest wall injuries: A prospective randomized trial, J Trauma 2022: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35081599/
A multicenter, prospective, controlled clinical trial of surgical stabilization of rib fractures in patients with severe, nonflail fracture patterns (NONFLAIL), J Trauma 2020: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31804414/
Operative versus nonoperative treatment of multiple simple rib fractures: A systematic review and meta-analysis, Injury 2020: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32650981/
Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.