Table 1. Characteristics of patients with multiple rib fractures or flail chest separated by treatment.
| Characteristics | Overall (n=1,201) | Multiple rib fractures | Flail chest | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operative (n=430) | Non-operative (n=580) | P | Operative (n=133) | Non-operative (n=58) | P | ||
| Gender, n (%) | 0.042 | 0.011 | |||||
| Male | 954 (79.4) | 362 (84.2) | 459 (79.1) | 100 (75.2) | 33 (56.9) | ||
| Female | 247 (20.6) | 68 (15.8) | 121 (20.9) | 33 (24.8) | 25 (43.1) | ||
| Age (year), mean ± SD | 50.1±12.7 | 50.2±10.4 | 49.1±9.3 | 0.083 | 52.1±9.7 | 49.2±9.1 | 0.054 |
| Injury mechanism, n (%) | 0.592 | 0.761 | |||||
| High energy trauma | 722 (60.1) | 246 (57.2) | 322 (55.5) | 108 (81.2) | 46 (79.3) | ||
| Other | 479 (39.9) | 184 (42.8) | 258 (44.5) | 25 (18.8) | 12 (20.7) | ||
| Number of rib fractures (mean ± SD) | 6.3±2.4 | 6.2±1.9 | 6.1±2.1 | 0.429 | 8.0±2.7 | 7.1±2.1 | 0.014 |
| Rib fracture patterns, n (%) | 0.447 | 0.635 | |||||
| Unilateral | 776 (64.6) | 268 (62.3) | 375 (64.7) | 94 (70.7) | 39 (67.2) | ||
| Bilateral | 425 (35.4) | 162 (37.7) | 205 (35.3) | 39 (29.3) | 19 (32.8) | ||
| Rib fracture locations, n (%) | 0.101 | 0.309 | |||||
| Upper | 192 (15.9) | 74 (17.2) | 88 (15.2) | 21 (15.8) | 9 (15.5) | ||
| Middle | 845 (70.4) | 303 (70.5) | 393 (67.8) | 106 (79.7) | 43 (74.1) | ||
| Lower | 164 (13.7) | 53 (12.3) | 99 (17.1) | 6 (4.5) | 6 (10.3) | ||
| Concomitant injuries, n (%) | |||||||
| Pneumothorax | 667 (55.5) | 230 (53.5) | 320 (55.2) | 0.595 | 81 (60.9) | 36 (60.1) | 0.879 |
| Hemothorax | 298 (24.8) | 117 (27.2) | 128 (22.1) | 0.001 | 39 (29.3) | 14 (24.1) | 0.462 |
| Lung contusion | 681 (56.7) | 235 (54.7) | 334 (57.6) | 0.352 | 79 (59.4) | 33 (56.9) | 0.747 |
| Sternum fracture | 257 (21.4) | 102 (23.7) | 115 (19.8) | 0.136 | 37 (27.8) | 13 (22.4) | 0.435 |
| Injury severity score (mean ± SD) | 20.5±7.3 | 25.4±8.1 | 24.4±9.4 | 0.070 | 32.3±8.3 | 29.4±10.1 | 0.058 |
Categorical data are presented as number and percent; continuous data are presented as mean ± SD. SD, standard deviation.