Rib Fracture

Rib Fracture is a topic covered in the 5-Minute Emergency Consult.

To view the entire topic, please or .

Emergency Central is a collection of disease, drug, and test information including 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult, Davis’s Drug, McGraw-Hill Medical’s Diagnosaurus®, Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests, and MEDLINE Journals created for emergency medicine professionals. Explore these free sample topics:

-- The first section of this topic is shown below --

Basics

Description

  • Result of major or minor thoracic trauma
  • Can be classified as traumatic or pathologic

Etiology

  • Blunt thoracic trauma:
    • Simple fall, fall from height
    • Vehicle crash
    • Assault
    • Missile
    • CPR-related
  • Penetrating trauma is a less likely cause:
    • Ribs usually break at the point of impact or the posterior angle, the structurally weakest region
  • Stress fractures in upper and middle ribs can occur with recurrent, high-force movements:
    • Athletic activities: Golf, rowing, throwing
    • Severe cough
  • Pathologic fractures associated with minor trauma or significant underlying disease:
    • Advanced age, osteoporosis, neoplasm

Pediatric Considerations
  • Relatively elastic chest wall makes rib fractures less common in children
  • Consider nonaccidental trauma for infants and toddlers without appropriate mechanism
  • Obtain a skeletal survey to assess for other fractures in infants suspected of being abused


Geriatric Considerations
  • Elderly are more prone to rib fractures as well as atelectasis, pneumonia, respiratory failure, and other associated complications
  • Have been consistently shown to have poorer outcomes following rib fractures

-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please or --

Basics

Description

  • Result of major or minor thoracic trauma
  • Can be classified as traumatic or pathologic

Etiology

  • Blunt thoracic trauma:
    • Simple fall, fall from height
    • Vehicle crash
    • Assault
    • Missile
    • CPR-related
  • Penetrating trauma is a less likely cause:
    • Ribs usually break at the point of impact or the posterior angle, the structurally weakest region
  • Stress fractures in upper and middle ribs can occur with recurrent, high-force movements:
    • Athletic activities: Golf, rowing, throwing
    • Severe cough
  • Pathologic fractures associated with minor trauma or significant underlying disease:
    • Advanced age, osteoporosis, neoplasm

Pediatric Considerations
  • Relatively elastic chest wall makes rib fractures less common in children
  • Consider nonaccidental trauma for infants and toddlers without appropriate mechanism
  • Obtain a skeletal survey to assess for other fractures in infants suspected of being abused


Geriatric Considerations
  • Elderly are more prone to rib fractures as well as atelectasis, pneumonia, respiratory failure, and other associated complications
  • Have been consistently shown to have poorer outcomes following rib fractures

There's more to see -- the rest of this entry is available only to subscribers.