Clinical characteristics and treatment of 48 cases of traumatic flail chest

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics and treatment strategy of traumatic flail chest.Methods We retrospectively analyzed the data of various parameters like efficacy and blood gas analysis after mechanical ventilation and surgery for 48 patients with traumatic flail chest.Results PaO2,PaCO2,PaO2/FiO2 and SpO2 24 hours after mechanical ventilation were significantly improved than before (P 0.001).For patients treated by surgery,the average stay in ICU of the 23 cases by surgical treatment was(3.39±2.29)days,pulmonary infection was found in 2 cases (8.70%),and utilization rate of vasoactive drugs was 17.39% (4/23).The mortality was 4.17% (2/48),which was significantly lower than predicted risk of dead.Conclusion Mechanical ventilation can not only fix flail chest,but improve oxygenation effectively in patients with severe flail chest.Surgical treatment can significantly decrease the time of ventilation and stay in ICU,reduce complications and mortality.It is suggested to improve the prognosis of patients with flail chest by using surgical treatment and conservative treatment together.