The most common result of blunt thoracic injury is indeed the fracture of one or more ribs. Rib fractures consists of nearly 40% of patients admitted to major trauma centers, nearly accounting for 200,000 documented cases in the national trauma databank. This injury is often used as an important indicator of trauma severity and playing a major contributing factor in as many as 50% of fatal cases. What is particularly devastating about rib fractures is their intimacy to many vital structures. The location of the rib fracture may indicate types of injuries that may occur. Patients often present with hemothorax or pneumothorax, particularly if two or more ribs are fractured.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.