This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (10)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

JOHN F. PERRY, JR., MD; CHARLES F. GALWAY, MD

AMA Arch Surg. 1965;91(2):216-220.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

M ANY PAPERS devoted to treatment of flail chest leave the impression that this injury can be successfully managed in most cases by simple measures to fix the unstable segment of chest wall. On the other hand, a few authors^1-5 have offered suggestions for management based on the physiological derangements which have been created by this grave injury. These offer a rational basis for treatment. A review of our own recent experience in the treatment of 74 patients with flail chest has shown that only a few patients with small unstable segments of lateral or posterior chest wall can be treated successfully by simple techniques such as inter-costal nerve blocks⁶ to relieve pain and facilitate effective cough. However, the great majority of patients with flail chest injuries require early, vigorous and often prolonged treatment by tracheotomy and controlled intermittent positive pressure ventilation.⁵ This is the absolute minimum . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
ST. PAUL

From the departments of surgery and anesthesiology, Ancker Hospital, St. Paul, Minn, and the University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis.

Footnotes
Read before the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Central Surgical Association, Milwaukee, March 4-6 1965.

Reprint requests to Ancker Hospital (Dr. Perry).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?