Table 1 .
Summary of included studies
| Author | Year | Fracture type | Implant | Primary outcome | Number of patients | Age (SD) | Number male (%) | Mean number of rib fractures (SD) | Mean ISS (SD) | Mean time to SRF (hours) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SM | NSM | Total | SM | NSM | SM | NSM | SM | NSM | SM | NSM | ||||||
| Granetzny et al (8) | 2005 | Flail | K or stainless steel wire | Pulmonary function | 20 | 20 | 40 | 40.5 (8.2) | 36 (14.9) | 17 (85) | 14 (70) | 4.4 | 4.6 | 16.8 (3.5) | 18 (3.5) | 24 to 36 |
| Liu et al (9) | 2019 | Flail | U plate or locking plate | Ventilator time | 27 | 26 | 53* | 42† (25–58) | 39† (24-56) | 21 (84) | 20 (80) | 6† (4–9) | 5† (3–7) | 29† (22–36) | 27† (20–36) | 37† (21–25) |
| Marasco et al (11) | 2013 | Flail | Bio absorbable plates | Ventilator time / time on ITU | 23 | 23 | 46 | 57.8 (17.1) | 59.3 (10.4) | 20 (87) | 20 (87) | 11 (3.1) | 11.3 (4.7) | 35 (11.4) | 30 (6.3) | Not stated |
| Pieracci et al (7) | 2020 | Simple | Not specified | Pain | 51 | 59 | 110‡ | 54.6 | 55.3 | 39 (76.5) | 43 (74.1) | 7† | 7† | 13 | 14 | Not stated |
| Tanaka et al (10) | 2002 | Flail | Judet struts | Ventilator time | 18 | 19 | 37 | 43 (12) | 46 (9) | 43 (12) | 46 (9) | 8.2 (3.3) | 8.2 (2.6) | 33 (11) | 30 (8) | 196.8 (98.4) |
ISS = injury severity score; ITU = intensive care unit; NSM: non-surgical management; SM = surgical management; SRF = surgical rib fixation.
*While 53 patients were randomised, only patients who attended follow up and received their allocation were analysed.
†Median value (with IQR where available).
‡110 patients recruited to the study, but only 23 underwent randomisation. The remainder were included in an observational arm; the two arms were combined for all of the study analysis.