acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

The optimum treatment of traumatic flail chest and rib fractures is currently unknown. The standard of care for these injuries at most centers in North America include a conservative management with of analgesia, mechanical ventilation, and tracheostomy. Surgical management of multiple, displaced rib fractures has previously been reserved for refractory cases unable to wean from mechanical ventilation or severe chest wall instability. However, the use of surgical stabilization of the chest wall has demonstrated reductions in ICU length of stay, duration of mechanical ventilation, and the incidences of pneumonia, tracheotomy, and re-intubation. (3-5,22) The MatrixRIB system (custom designed pre-contoured plates) for surgical rib ï¬ xation has been in use at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) since 2010. The results have been anecdotally excellent and there has been no mortality and no speciï¬ c complications arising form the surgical technique and treatment. The objective of our study will be to retrospectively review those patients treated with MatrixRIB ï¬ xation and compare them to matched controls from the BC Trauma Registry. The intention is to compare outcomes between the two groups with respect to total Critical care Unit stays (CCU) stay which include the intensive care unit and special care unit stays, total length of stay (LOS), and overall mortality. / acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu