The application of electrical impedance tomography and surgical outcomes of thoracoscope-assisted surgical stabilization of rib fractures in severe chest trauma

Abstract Serious blunt chest trauma usually induces hemothorax, pneumothorax, and rib fractures. More studies have claimed that early video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF) results in a good prognosis in patients with major trauma. This study aimed to verify the outcomes in patients with chest trauma whether SSRF was performed. Consecutive patients who were treated in a medical center in Taiwan, for traumatic events between January 2015 and June 2020, were retrospectively reviewed. This study focused on patients with major trauma and thoracic injuries, and they were divided into groups based on whether they received SSRF. We used electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to evaluate the change of ventilation conditions. Different scores used for the evaluation of trauma severity were also compared in this study. Among the 8396 patients who were included, 1529 (18.21%) had major trauma with injury severity score > 16 and were admitted to the intensive care unit initially. A total of 596 patients with chest trauma were admitted, of whom 519 (87%) survived. Younger age and a lower trauma score (including injury severity scale, new injury severity score, trauma and injury severity score, and revised trauma score) account for better survival rates. Moreover, 74 patients received SSRF. They had a shorter intensive care unit (ICU) stay (5.24, p = 0.045) and better performance in electrical impedance tomography (23.46, p < 0.001). In patients with major thoracic injury, older age and higher injury survival scale account for higher mortality rate. Effective surgical stabilization of rib fractures shortened the ICU stay and helped achieve better performance in EIT. Thoracoscope-assisted rib fixation is suggested in severe trauma cases.