World J Surg (2009) 33:14–22
DOI 10.1007/s00268-008-9770-y
Rib Fracture Repair: Indications, Technical Issues, and Future
Directions
Raminder Nirula Æ Jose J. Diaz Jr. Æ
Donald D. Trunkey Æ John C. Mayberry
Published online: 24 October 2008
Ó Société Internationale de Chirurgie 2008
Abstract Rib fracture repair has been performed at
selected centers around the world for more than 50 years;
however, the operative indications have not been established and are considered controversial. The outcome of a
strictly nonoperative approach may not be optimal. Potential indications for rib fracture repair include flail chest,
painful, movable rib fractures refractory to conventional
pain management, chest wall deformity/defect, rib fracture
nonunion, and during thoracotomy for other traumatic
indication. Rib fracture repair is technically challenging
secondary to the human rib’s relatively thin cortex and its
tendency to fracture obliquely. Nonetheless, several effective repair systems have been developed. Future directions
for progress on this important surgical problem include the
development of minimally invasive techniques and the
conduct of multicenter, randomized trials.
Introduction
Rib fracture repair has been performed at selected centers
around the world for more than 50 years; however, the
operative indications have not been established and are
R. Nirula
Surgery, Burns/Trauma/Critical Care Section, University
of Utah, Saltlake City, UT, USA
J. J. Diaz Jr.
Surgery, Division of Trauma, Emergency General Surgery,
and Surgical Critical Care, Vanderbilt University,
Nashville, TN, USA
D. D. Trunkey J. C. Mayberry (&)
Department of Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University,
Portland, OR, USA
e-mail: mayberrj@ohsu.edu
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considered controversial. In this review, the historical
perspective, pertinent clinical presentations, potential
indications, and the unique technical challenges of rib
fracture repair are reviewed with the objective of 1) identifying the patient population most likely to benefit from rib
fracture repair, 2) delineating the most efficacious techniques of repair, and 3) quantifying the potential short and
long-term individual benefits of repair.
Historical perspective
Open surgical treatment of rib fractures dates at least as far
back as the first century of the Common Era (CE) when the
Roman surgeon Soranus (CE 78–117) described the
resection of depressed rib fractures for the relief of pleuritic
pain [1]; 1500 years later, Ambroise Pare advised an initial
attempt at closed reduction of displaced rib fractures by
adhering strong cloth to the chest wall with pitch and flour
and then ‘‘plucking with great violence’’ to elevate the
fracture [2]. If that failed, he recommended open resection
of the offending fragment(s). Closed reduction of displaced
rib fractures was eventually abandoned as ineffective [3],
but resection of rib fragments driven into the pleural space
and lung was advocated during the first half of the Twentieth Century [4], was performed by American surgeons
during World War II [5], and recently has been achieved
thorascopically [6, 7].
Flail chest, described historically in the American literature as ‘‘stoved-in’’ or ‘‘crushed’’ chest, was a very
ominous finding during the preventilator era. Nonoperative
attempts at stabilizing unilateral flail chest with external
strapping, the placement of sandbags, or by positioning the
patient laterally with the injured side down were potentially
successful, and, for bilateral flail or sternal flail, external
World J Surg (2009) 33:14–22
fixation combined with traction was eventually described
[8–11]. The complications of external fixation/traction, the
prolonged bedrest necessary for fracture union, and the
occasional failure or inapplicability of this technique,
however, led surgeons to consider internal fixation. A
series of patients receiving wire suture fixation of rib
fractures was reported in 1950 [12] and intramedullary
‘‘Rush nail’’ fixation was reported in 1956 [13]. The advent
of positive pressure ventilation had a major impact on the
management of flail chest, and its gradual widespread
adoption and success in preventing respiratory failure in
patients with multiple rib fractures and flail chest rendered
external fixation/traction obsolete and brought investigation of the efficacy of internal fixation to a halt [14–17].
The era of ‘‘internal stabilization’’ of flail chest with
mechanical ventilation began and continues selectively
today [18–22].
During the 1960 s and 1970 s, a minority of surgeons
recognized that select patients with flail chest might benefit
from surgical fixation if a trial of mechanical ventilation
failed. Sporadic series of rib fracture repair utilizing a
variety of plating, wiring, and intramedullary techniques
were reported [23–31]. Patients with severe deformities
also were considered candidates for fixation if the displaced rib fractures or chest wall defect was considered too
severe to heal on its own [26]. ‘‘On the way out’’ or
‘‘thoracotomy for other indication’’ was reported as a valid
indication for rib fracture repair [23, 26, 27]. Applying the
technique used to reconstruct pectus excavatum with a
substernal stainless steel prosthesis, Brunner successfully
repaired sternal flail [32].
Potential indications
Table 1 summarizes the potential indications and inclusion
criteria for rib fracture repair.
Flail chest
Flail chest is anatomically defined by the presence of four
consecutive, unilateral ribs each fractured in two or more
places; however, clinically a flail chest is diagnosed when
an incompetent segment of chest wall is large enough that
paradoxical motion of the chest wall is visible with respiration. A sternal flail occurs when the sternum becomes
dissociated from the hemi-thoraces because of bilateral,
multiple, anterior cartilage or rib fractures.
Two recent, randomized trials indicate that select patients
with flail chest may benefit from operative repair in both the
short- and long-term. Tanaka et al. [33] randomized 37 flail
chest patients who required mechanical ventilation to surgical
stabilization or nonoperative management. The surgically
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Table 1 Potential indications and inclusion criteria for rib fracture
repair
1. Flail chest
Inclusion criteria
a) Failure to wean from ventilator
b) Paradoxical movement visualized during weaning
c) No significant pulmonary contusion
d) No significant brain injury
2. Reduction of pain and disability
Inclusion criteria
a) Painful, movable rib fractures
b) Failure of narcotics or epidural pain catheter
c) Fracture movement exacerbates pain
d) Minimal associated injuries (AIS B 2)
3. Chest wall deformity/defect
Inclusion criteria
a) Chest wall crush injury with collapse of the structure of the
chest wall and loss of thoracic volume
b) Severely displaced, multiple rib fractures or tissue defect that
may result in permanent deformity or pulmonary hernia
c) Severely displaced fractures are significantly impeding lung
expansion or rib fractures are impaling the lung
d) Patient is expected to survive any other injuries
4. Symptomatic rib fracture non-union
Inclusion criteria
a) CT scan evidence of fracture nonunion ([2 months after injury)
b) Patient reports persistent, symptomatic fracture movement
5. Thoracotomy for other indications (i.e., ‘‘on the way out’’)
repaired group demonstrated significantly fewer days on the
ventilator and in the ICU, had a lower incidence of pneumonia,
had better pulmonary function at 1 month, and had a higher
return to work percentage at 6 months than the nonoperative
group. Granetzny et al. [34] reported a randomized trial of 40
patients in which the operative group demonstrated significantly less mechanical ventilation, ICU and inpatient days,
and pneumonia compared with a group of patients treated with
an external adhesive plaster. Visual chest wall deformity or
persistent flail chest were less in the operative group, whereas
forced vital capacity and total lung capacity were significantly
higher at 2 months. Recent, nonrandomized, cohort-comparison trials have generally confirmed these findings with the
caveat that in patients with significant pulmonary contusions,
flail chest repair is not advised [35–38]. The optimal number
of days after injury at which to perform repair is controversial:
one trial randomized patients at 5 days [33] and the other at 36
to 48 hours [34].
Despite these trials, fracture fixation is not widely
practiced; many trauma centers maintain the belief that
most patients with flail chest are satisfactorily managed
without operative fixation [39]. Some propose that operative intervention for flail chest has ‘‘significant potential to
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cause mischief in sick patients,’’ is not applicable to
patients with severe concomitant pulmonary contusion, and
may not have a favorable risk-to-benefit ratio [39]. Other
centers have developed multidisciplinary clinical pathways
for select patients with severe rib fractures, including
aggressive respiratory therapy, anesthesia pain management, physical therapy, and a nutritional consult [22, 40].
These centers report excellent short-term outcomes without
any consideration of surgical intervention. The recent
Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Practice
Management Guideline for Pulmonary Contusion—Flail
Chest recognizes the surgical fixation of severe unilateral
flail chest as a Level III recommendation only, citing the
low numbers of patients randomized, the strict exclusion
criteria in the study by Tanaka et al. [33], and the absence
of trials comparing operative repair with ‘‘modern’’ nonoperative treatments, including epidural anesthesia and
chest physiotherapy [37].
The long-term outcome of a strictly nonoperative
approach to flail chest may not be optimal. Landercasper
et al. [41] retrospectively reviewed 62 consecutive patients
with flail chest and found that only 43% had returned to their
previous full-time employment within 5 years. The most
common long-term problems associated with flail chest in up
to 50% of patients were chest wall pain exacerbated by
physical exertion and permanent chest wall deformity
[41, 42]. In contrast, pulmonary function after severe rib
fractures or flail chest, with notable exceptions, e.g., patients
with severe pulmonary contusions, often recovers with only
mild or minimal impairment [41, 43, 44]. The possibility that
acute surgical fixation of flail chest could diminish expected
long-term pain and disability related to the chest wall has
been hypothesized but is unproven [45–48].
Chest wall deformity/defect
Chest wall defects/deformities occur in a variety of traumatic
circumstances and are characterized by severely displaced
rib fractures that visibly deform the chest wall with or
without soft tissue loss. Paradoxical motion may or may not
be present and many of these patients, especially those who
are young with adequate pulmonary reserve, do not require
endotracheal intubation. Minimal to moderate-sized tissue
defects (B10 x 10 cm) can be caused by penetrating missiles
or impalement with surrounding objects during motor
vehicle crashes (MVCs) or falls [49]. Repair of both rib
fractures and soft tissue may be indicated to restore an
incompetent or ‘‘caved in’’ segment of the chest wall even if
the patient does not require mechanical ventilation. Unrepaired segments may lead to the development of chest wall
herniation [50]. Comminuted rib fractures can be repaired
with absorbable plates and absorbable suture cerclage [51].
Intercostal muscle defects may be closed by suturing the
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surrounding ribs together or by placing an intra-thoracic
patch of AllodermÒ (www.lifecell.com) (Mayberry J, 2005,
unpublished data). Larger chest wall defects, such as those
resulting from close-range shotgun blasts or explosions, are a
formidable therapeutic challenge [52]. A thorough debridement of devitalized muscle, bone, skin, and removal of
foreign bodies will result in a large defect over which soft
tissue coverage by rotation of myocutaneous flaps is necessary. Diaphragmatic transposition, detachment of the
diaphragm peripherally and suturing it above the chest wall
defect, has been described for lower chest wall defects [53].
This procedure converts the chest wall injury to an abdominal wall defect.
Acute pain and disability reduction
Although conventional wisdom and practitioner experience
indicates that the majority of rib fractures heal without
complications or permanent disability, few clinical studies
with long-term follow-up of nonoperative management
have been published. In a prospective study of 40 patients
presenting to an urban level 1 trauma center, patients with
rib fractures were found to be significantly more disabled at
30 days after injury than patients with chronic medical illness and lost an average of 70 days of work [54]. Thus, it
has been hypothesized that selected patients without flail
chest may benefit from open reduction with internal fixation
[51, 55–58]; however, this has not been confirmed by cohort
comparison or randomized trial. The premise is that select
patients with displaced and movable rib fractures who do
not require assisted ventilation, but rather are experiencing
persistent, unrelenting pain with breathing, coughing, or
mobilization from recumbancy, could have their fractures
surgically stabilized and thereby have their pain alleviated
and return to work/usual activity sooner than if the fractures
were not stabilized. In addition, it is possible that these
select patients would have their risk of long-term pain and
disability lessened by surgical repair [48].
Nonunion
An unknown but small percentage of rib fractures do not
heal and manifest as a nonunion months to years after their
injury [56, 57, 59, 60]. Although a fibrous capsule may
envelope the fracture, bony union has not occurred (Fig. 1).
A chronic nonunion may cause intermittent discomfort
associated with movement of the fracture and can be quite
disabling for the patient. The rationale for nonunion repair
is based on the assumption that without intervention
complete bony healing will not occur. The fibrous callous
enveloping the nonunion is resected and a plate is placed to
fixate the rib ends during the rehealing process. Whether
fixation of rib fracture nonunions will consistently produce
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Fig. 1 Rib fracture nonunion 2 years after injury
positive outcomes has not been established, but reported
experience has been encouraging [56, 57, 59–62].
Thoracotomy for other indications
A patient with multiple rib fractures or a flail chest who
needs a thoracotomy for another indication, e.g., open
pneumothorax, pulmonary laceration, retained hemothorax,
or diaphragm laceration, also is a candidate for rib fracture
repair [37]. Thoracotomy for nontrauma indications, e.g.,
tumor resection, also may result in rib fractures that could
be surgically repaired.
Technical issues of rib fracture repair
The geometry and character of human ribs is unique among
the bones of the body. Human rib thickness ranges from 8–
12 mm with a relatively thin (1–2 mm) cortex surrounding
soft marrow [63]. Individual ribs, therefore, do not have
great stress tolerance nor are they expected to hold a cortical screw as well as bone with a thicker cortex. Rib
fractures may be oblique or even comminuted further
complicating the challenge of a reliable repair (Fig. 2). In
addition, the intercostal nerve lies adjacent to the inferior
undersurface of the rib and its operative injury or crimping
may lead to postthoracotomy pain syndrome [62, 64].
Many techniques of rib fracture repair have been
described, including using wire sutures, intramedullary
wires, staples, and various plates made of metal or
absorbable materials [35, 38, 51, 55, 60, 65–69].
Anterior plates with wire cerclage
Several series report fixating rib fractures with a variety of
malleable, flat plates cerclaged to the anterior surface of the
rib for a distance of several centimeters [26, 38, 59]. Wire
Fig. 2 Oblique acute rib fracture exposed during rib fracture repair
cerclage, however, is an imperfect means of stabilizing the
fracture because of the risk of wire breakage and plate
dislodgement. In addition, cerclaging the rib with a permanent material will potentially impinge the intercostal
nerve and lead to chronic pain. For this reason, in one
instance, we have had to remove plates cerclaged with wire
[48]. An alternative is to drill holes through the rib and
anchor the strut to the rib with interrupted wire suture [38].
Anterior plating with bicortical screws
This is the standard, time-tested technique against which
innovations should be compared (Fig. 3) [27, 36, 46, 55,
60, 67, 69, 70]. Dynamic compression osteosynthesis is a
variation of anterior plating where eccentric plate holes and
conical screw heads combine to impact and immobilize the
fracture ends [70]. Locking screw designs are a relatively
recent innovation where threads in the screw head ‘‘lock’’
to threads in the plate hole that may improve fixation in
softer bone [69].
Intramedullary fixation
Intramedullary wire or plate fixation of rib fractures with or
without subsequent wire/plate removal has been used
successfully [26, 29, 34, 35]. This technique, however,
carries a risk of wire dislodgement and is very technically
demanding. Wire migration through the skin has been
reported and, in a series of rib fracture repair in newborn
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cerclaging wire, could crimp the intercostal neurovascular
bundle and therefore has a potential for intercostal nerve
injury and subsequent chronic pain, although this has not
been reported. A variation of the strut that has been used
successfully is a self-gripping, elastic band that envelopes
the rib like a ribbon around a maypole [72].
U-plate
Fig. 3 Postoperative chest radiograph of multiple rib fractures
repaired with anterior plates and bicortical screws
foals, migration of an intramedullary pin injured the heart
of one pony and resulted in its death [26, 35, 71]. Internal
wire fixation also has been criticized because it does not
provide rotational stability [69].
Judet strut
The Judet strut is a bendable metal plate that grasps the rib
with tongs both superiorly and inferiorly without transfixing screws (Fig. 4) [25, 33, 36, 65]. The fixation of this
plate around the inferior margin of the rib, however, like a
Fig. 4 Lateral chest radiograph of multiple rib fractures repaired with
Judet struts
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The U-plate theoretically overcomes the inherent softness
of the human rib by grasping the rib over its superior
margin and by securing the plate with anterior to posterior
locking screws that do not rely on screw purchase in bone
(Fig. 5). In a simulation of an unstable rib fracture with a
small bony gap, U-plate rib fracture repair was superior in
durability to anterior plate repair, despite reduced fixation
length [63]. The U-plate may facilitate the application of a
much less invasive rib fracture fixation than the anterior
plate technique. In this sense, its application is similar to
the Judet strut, but without the potential for crimping of the
intercostal nerve. Both the Judet strut and the U-plate can
be placed with minimal dissection of the rib in the extrapleural space and with preservation of the periosteum. The
U-plate system includes drill targeting guides, which align
the screws with the posterior leaf and prevent the drill from
protruding into the pleural space.
Absorbable plates
Absorbable alpha esters, especially the various polylactide
polymers, have been successfully used in the fixation of
maxillofacial, tibia, and rib fractures [6, 51, 73–77].
Polylactide and polydioxanone prostheses also have been
successfully used in the reconstruction of chest wall
Fig. 5 Chest radiograph of rib fractures repaired with u-shaped plates
World J Surg (2009) 33:14–22
deformities and in rib reapproximation after thoracotomy
for nontraumatic indications [58, 78–80].
Absorbable plates have practical and theoretical
advantages over titanium plates. First, they do not need to
be removed, as may be the case in the minority of metal
plates. Additionally, because metal plates are much stiffer
than bone, ‘‘stress-shielding’’ of the plated bone is possible
[81, 82]. ‘‘Stress-shielding’’ occurs because the plated bone
is protected from normal stress and therefore does not heal
as robustly as nonplated bone. Animal models support the
concept that fractures heal faster and stronger with
absorbable plates compared with metal [83, 84]. In a rabbit
model, rib fracture reduction was maintained to a greater
degree with polylactide plate rib fracture fixation compared
with nonoperative treatment, resulting in improved bone
healing [85].
Contrary to original hopes, polylactide plates are probably not clinically bacteriostatic. Although polylactide
plates mildly inhibit Staphylococcus epidermidis growth
in vitro, this weak effect is not likely to be clinically significant, and polylactide plates do not inhibit
Staphylococcus areus at all [86, 87]. It is possible, however, that antibiotics or bone-healing promoting agents
could be added to absorbable plates [88, 89]. This is an area
of future investigation.
Preoperative preparation
Three-dimensional CT reconstructions may be useful to
completely define all rib fractures and the extent of their
displacement and to help plan the surgical approach [47,
51, 60]. If clinically possible, any chest tube is removed
from the pleural space the day before the procedure to
minimize the potential for bacterial contamination. A preoperative antibiotic targeting gram-positive organisms is
given 30 minutes before incision. Thorascopic assistance
may be planned to facilitate a less invasive approach and to
prevent injury to the lung during screw or wire fixation of
the plates.
Complications
Among 650 rib fracture repairs described since 1975, there
were 8 superficial wound infections (1.2%), 4 cases of
wound drainage without infection (0.6%), 2 pleural empyemas (0.3%), 1 wound hematoma, and 1 persistent
pleural effusion reported [26–28, 33–36, 38, 45, 46, 48, 51,
55–57, 59, 60, 65–67, 69, 70, 90–95]. Fixation failure,
including plate loosening or wire migration, occurred in
eight patients (1.2%) and postoperative chest wall ‘‘stiffness,’’ ‘‘rigidity,’’ or ‘‘pain’’ necessitating plate removal
was reported in nine patients (1.4%). Rib osteomyelitis was
reported in one patient and was ascribed to operative
19
contamination from a preoperative chest tube, which was
colonized by Staphylococcus areus [48].
Future directions
Minimally invasive approach
In the past, patients undergoing rib fracture stabilization
have undergone formal thoracotomy for adequate exposure
and fixation of selected rib fractures. With three-dimensional CT scan imaging it is possible to hone in on those
segments of the thoracic cavity that are most critical in
terms of producing dysfunctional thoracic cage mechanics
and pain thereby obviating the need for a full thoracotomy
and allowing for a less invasive approach. The addition of
intraoperative thorascopy may improve the surgeon’s
ability to keep the external exposure to a minimum. Muscle-sparing techniques, such as division of the latissimus
dorsi in the direction of its fibers rather than across the
belly of the muscle, can provide adequate exposure of one
to three rib fractures through an incision 10–15 cm in
length. Instead of making one larger incision, the surgeon
can make two or even three smaller, more strategic incisions that avoid muscle division. In addition, the surgeon
does not need to fix every rib fracture because the fixation
of alternating ribs usually provides stability to the fracture
in between, and the periosteum does not need to be stripped, in fact, leaving the periosteum in situ will promote
bony healing. These strategies of minimizing operative
dissection should minimize postoperative morbidity.
Finally, as technology improves, it may become feasible to
repair rib fractures completely thorascopically [6, 7, 61].
Multicenter trial
The majority of the current literature with respect to surgical stabilization has been comprised of small studies with
short-term follow-up. Well-designed clinical trials comparing operative management to modern critical care and
pain control that have enrolled large numbers of patients are
conspicuously absent. Several barriers currently exist that
must be removed before an attempt at such a randomized
trial. First, individual centers cannot accumulate enough
patients with severe chest wall injuries to be able to conduct
meaningful randomized trials on their own. A multicenter
trial that includes surgeons with enough experience in rib
fracture repair to be beyond the learning curve will be
necessary. Second, specific indications for repair must be
established as well as sensitive assessments of expected
outcomes. Our categorization of these indications will be
helpful in this regard. Because preliminary, yet small, randomized trials already exist for flail chest, this indication
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should be chosen as the initial multicenter investigation,
and, if this endeavor proves fruitful, the potential benefits of
rib fracture fixation in patients with multiple nonflail rib
fractures also should be investigated. Assessment of shortterm outcomes, such as pneumonia, ventilator days, inpatient length of stay, and hospital costs, as well as long-term
outcomes, including time loss from work or usual activity,
pulmonary function, and pain and disability assessments,
will be necessary. Ultimately, the trauma surgeon caring for
a patient with rib fractures, whether isolated or in association with other significant injuries, is responsible not only
for their survival and short-term outcome but also their
long-term functional capacity and quality of life. Third, a
multicenter, randomized trial will be expensive. Power
calculations by the authors indicate that approximately 300
patients with flail chest would have to be randomized into a
clinical trial of surgical fixation to observe a potential difference in long-term disability outcomes. As part of a
randomized trial of fixation versus nonoperative management, institutional review boards may require that the cost
of the ‘‘experimental’’ surgical fixation be borne by the
investigator and not by the patient or their insurance. Such a
study would be prohibitively expensive in a practice environment such as the United States, unless recognition of the
short- and long-term benefits of operative fixation grows.
Finally, the preferred technique among the many options
will need to be established by the participating surgeons.
These barriers are large, but with persistent effort and sufficient time should be surmountable. This review will
hopefully serve as a roadmap and a stimulant for progress in
this important clinical arena.
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