Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
By stabilizing fractured and partially dislocated ribs, physicians can improve patient quality of life according to a new multicenter study
[...] As recently published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, patients who underwent SSRF [Surgical Stabilization of Rib Fractures] for three or more rib fractures with partial dislocation reported less pain on the numeric pain scale and a better quality of life after their stabilization surgery.
"This research shows that patients who have partially displaced fractures as well as some pulmonary compromise also benefit from a procedure that is usually reserved for a more severely injured cohort," said Eriksson.
[...] The fractured ribs took just as long to completely heal, but the patients' experiences during this process were far superior, and they reported feeling less pain and easier breathing throughout.
Patients also experienced fewer complications from their rib fractures. By opening the chest, addressing any additional injuries, guiding the bones back into position and removing any excess blood from the area, surgeons decreased the chances that study participants would have any additional bleeding or fluid accumulation in that space.
And the difference was statistically significant. Surgeons reported that in the group that underwent SSRF, there was a zero percent pleural space complication rate from their patients' injuries, while the group that did not undergo the procedure experienced a 10% complication rate.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 26 2020, @05:17PM (4 children)
When I had a couple of broken ribs (minor motorcycle accident) they were not displaced, so the doc just said to take it easy. Things were fine until I had to sneeze--OMG, felt like someone shoved a big knife in my ribs. After that I did everything possible to not sneeze until things healed up.
If they have a way to stabilize the broken area enough to avoid that kind of pain, it seems like a good thing.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday January 26 2020, @07:27PM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by dltaylor on Sunday January 26 2020, @11:52PM (1 child)
2 or 3 deep coughs began to make death a desirable alternative.
After I broke 2 (not displaced) and cracked 1, I found it much easier to get onto a motorcycle than bend to get into a car. I'm tall from seat to crown, so I have to bend to get into even a roomy sedan or SUV/pickup. My bikes are not sport bikes, so the riding position is relatively upright.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 27 2020, @04:47AM
OP here (still as AC). At the risk of being a "Topper" ( http://www.c4-elt.com/2016/11/wacky-wednesday-topper.html [c4-elt.com] ), I reference this: https://www.lung.org/about-us/blog/2016/05/sneeze-versus-cough.html [lung.org]
You have my sympathy for coughs and hiccups, but that one sneeze caused an incredibly sharp pain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 28 2020, @07:32PM
I've only seen my father cry twice in my life. One was at his mother's funeral. The other was the first day at home after he broke multiple ribs on the steering wheel in a car accident.