Journal de traumatologie et de réadaptation

Anatomical Classification of Flail Chest better than Numerical?

Rachel J Chubsey MMedSci, MRCS1 , Manikandar Srinivas Cheruvu MRCS1 , Christopher Michael R Satur MS, FRCS (CTh)1,2

Objective: Objective Severity of chest wall trauma, commonly defined by the number of fractured ribs, fails to provide adequate definition of injuries. We describe an anatomical classification of flail chest and evaluate its predictive in comparison numerical and Injury Score characterisation. Methods Between September 2014 and December 2019, 156 (12.0%) of patients with major thoracic trauma, aged 57.6 years (SD 15.5) and 109 (69.9%) male, underwent surgical treatment chest wall injuries. We classified injuries according to our institutional classification of flail chest patterns, Types A – D or non-flail, to describe regional patterns of injury. The capacity to predict clinical outcome was compared to Abbreviated Injury Scores and the New Injury Severity Score.