Fijación de tórax inestable con placas y tornillos bioabsorbibles. Presentación de serie de casos

Abstract

BackgroundFlail chest is managed with mechanical ventilation or inhalation therapy, and analgesia. Mechanical ventilations carry risks by themselves, and disengage with the external fixators, so they must be operated to improve lung ventilatory mechanics and cleaning. Little has been published on the use of bio-absorbable material and its evolution in the setting of flail chest. Material and methodsA study was made on a material that did not have to be removed, that had the malleability of steel, its inflammatory reaction was minimal, and could be handled in both adults and children. A descriptive study is presented of patients with flail chest under rib fixation with plates and bio-absorbable screws. ResultsA series of 18 cases are presented, with ages from 33-74 years, three with bilateral flail chest. Fixation was performed between days 1-21 of the accident. In cases that showed no fractures of pelvic limbs, walking was restarted the day after fixing. In all cases mechanical ventilation improved and pain decreased. So far there has been no reaction to the material. ConclusionsFlail chest has a high (16.3%) mortality when the pathophysiology of the condition (pain, poor mechanical ventilation, alveolar oedema-pulmonary contusion) is not treated. The use of bio-absorbable material has no side effects attributable to material, making it another option for rib fixation.