NCT01308697.

Trial name or title	Operative Versus Non Operative Management of Flail Chest: A Randomized Controlled Feasibility Study
Methods	Study design: RCT Single‐center Setting: University of British Columbia Period: not reported Sample size: not reported Follow‐up: not reported
Participants	Inclusion criteria: ages ≥ 18 years ≥ 4 adjacent rib fractures, with > 1 fracture per rib provide informed consent Exclusion criteria: does not meet inclusion criteria attending physician does not believe the participant will survive their injuries
Interventions	Procedure: surgical fixation of flail chest Other: nonsurgical management
Outcomes	Pilot study intends to review numerous clinical outcomes or variables of interest to assist in selecting a primary outcome and sample size for the future definitive trial. Currently length of stay in a high acuity unit is the planned primary outcome measure for the definitive trial
Starting date	Not reported
Contact information	Royal Columbian Hospital, New Westminster, BC, Canada Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Notes	Pilot study: study start April 2011, study completion August 2013 (final data collection date for primary outcome measure). Enrollment: 14. According to clinicaltrials.gov and PubMed on 8 July 2015, this study has completed recruitment but the results have not yet been published