Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital

Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery helps Ribs fracture patient recovery fast.
A woman who was diagnosed with chest wall bruising combined with multiple rib fractures (2-10th) combined with pneumothorax and respiratory failure had previously been treated in other hospital for a serious car accident.

After several days in hospital, he underwent tracheostomy for respiratory failure due to multiple ribs fractures and severe pain.
And then she was referral to Taichung Armed Forces General Hospital for further treatment. The computed tomography scan showed that the patient’s ribs broken seriously, thoracocyllosis, respiratory instability, chest wall abnormal pain. Due to these reasons, the patient relied on the oxygen therapy and can’t remove the incubation.

After the evaluation and examination by the director of thoracic surgery Hsieh, Chih-ming, soon arranged for the chest laparoscopic auxiliary rib fracture reset correction steel plate fixed surgery, after the operation chest pain greatly improved, breathing conditions also significantly improved, a week after the operation the tracheotomy tube was removed and the patient can self-breathes and cough sputum.

Traditionally, rib fractures are treated conservatively, and it takes 2 to 3 months for the ribs to heal, and if multiple rib fractures or ribs misplaced, the healing time may exceed more than six months.

Dr Hsieh, Chih-ming indicated that the new rib fixation surgery has been well development in Taiwan for about five or six years.
Taichung Armed Forces General is one of the hospitals that performed the operation at an early stage, with more than 300 cases of rib fracture surgery related experience. Experienced physicians will operate the video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery to assisted rib fixation which can greatly narrow the wound and reduce the recovery time of rib fractures.

Patients with the follow indications can undergo surgical treatment:
1. Multiple rib fractures combined with dislocation.
2. Flail chest
3. Analgesic failure (Pain Rating Scale more than 6)
4.Complication(Ex. pneumothorax)
5.Respiratory faulure
6. Thoracocyllosis
7.Chronic nonunion of fracture

Clinically, there are many trauma conditions that can lead to ribs fracture, and this case is one of the most common causes of rib fractures caused by car accidents.Severe chest trauma can result in severe rib fractures and internal injuries. After assessment by a well-trained physician, patients with the above indications are able to undergo rib fixation surgery in the early stages of injury. The Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery will significantly shorten the recovery period, reduce the sequelae and improve the overall prognosis.