Fig. 7.

Rib fractures stabilized with a 1.5 mm Kirschner wire and b rib splint; c catastrophic failure of Kirschner-wire construct by cutting through the medial cortex, causing loss of reduction, instability, and protrusion of the wire from the rib; d failure of the rib splint construct by fracture along the superior and inferior cortices, shown in the stressed position; e after load removal, splint constructs recovered elastically and retained functional reduction and fixation, suggesting that this failure mode would remain clinically asymptomatic