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. 2023 Apr 1;37(4):e165-e169.
doi: 10.1097/BOT.0000000000002531.

Rib Fracture Map in High-Energy Injuries

Claire N Thomas  1   2 , Timothy J Lindquist  3 , Lisa K Schroder  1   2 , Peter A Cole  1   2   4
Affiliations

Rib Fracture Map in High-Energy Injuries

Claire N Thomas et al. J Orthop Trauma. .

Abstract

Objectives: To use a novel rib unfurling technology to investigate the locations of multiple rib fractures occurring from high-energy trauma to discern if there are reproducible rib fracture patterns.

Methods: Patients between the ages of 18 and 48 years presenting to a Level 1 academic trauma center with ≥2 rib fractures after a high-energy mechanism of injury between 2017 and 2019 were identified. Curved planar reformatting of CT scans was used to create two-dimensional unfurled rib images by flattening out the view of the ribs from a CT scan. Rib fractures were placed on a template map using a standardized measurement method, and subsequent frequency and heat maps were created.

Results: Among 100 consecutive patients, 534 fractures on 454 ribs were identified. The most common high-energy mechanism of injury was motor vehicle accidents (41%). Flail chest occurred in 8% of patients. The mean number of ribs fractured per patient was 4.54 ± 3.14 and included a mean of 5.34 ± 4.38 total fractures. Among all fractures, 50.9% were located on ribs 4 through 7. The most common fracture location was located in the lateral or anterolateral zone of the rib cage.

Conclusions: Patients with multiple rib fractures from high-energy trauma have rib fractures with locations of common occurrence. An understanding of location and frequency of rib fractures can help inform surgical approaches, prognosis, indications, classifications, and implant design in the management of a complex population of patients with chest wall injury after trauma.

Level of evidence: Diagnostic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

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Conflict of interest statement

PA Cole reports grants from DePuy Synthes and Stryker; education grants from COTA, AONA, OMeGA, Stryker, Zimmer-Biomet, Acumed, DePuy Synthes, and KLS Martin; personal fees from AO foundation, Exactech, and J&J DePuy Synthes; in-kind support from Siemens Healthineers; other from BoneFoam, Inc. outside the submitted work. LK Schroder reports personal fees from Exactech and J&J DePuy Synthes outside the submitted work. CN Thomas and TJ Lindquist report no relationships/conditions/circumstances that present a potential conflict of interest. DePuy Synthes and KLS Martin provided institutional research grants for this work, and in-kind support was received from Siemens Healthineers. No sponsor played a role in this investigation.

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