“Why was my son sent home with fractured ribs?”
My son got into a fight at school and the other kid pushed him down the stairs, causing him to fracture his ribs. We brought him to the hospital immediately, but the doctors at the ER said he can heal his ribs at home, and gave us a nerve blocker. Shouldn't he have had surgery to help heal his ribs? Why was he sent home?
8 Answers
Rib fractures are initially extremely painful. As long as he does not have shortness of breath, he does not need hospital care. Nearly all rib fractures healed uneventfully in 8-10 weeks. By that time the pain usually resolves. Surgery is necessary extremely rarely. But rarely a fracture can puncture a lung or fluid may build up making breathing difficult. That is why if there is any breathing difficulties, he should be promptly evaluated.
Your doctor was correct. Ribs heal on their own. The only time to worry is when you fracture ribs 1, 2, or 3. Lower ribs heal well with time. The upper ribs sometimes need observation because more trauma is required to fracture them.
Non-surgical treatment is the treatment of choice for rib fractures. Surgery is indicated in VERY rare circumstances. Your child’s treatment was appropriate
It is never necessary to operate on “rib fractures.” It would be nice to know the age of this patient, but clearly there is hardly ever a reason to treat rib fractures with anything other than benign neglect. They will always heal on their own. If underlying lungs are severely damaged (which is hardly ever the case) then very rarely would hospitalization be necessary. Rib fractures are not in and of itself considered a severe injury, however, there is no question they are quite painful, but heal in a matter of weeks. Opioid pain meds are usually prescribed during the first 3 weeks, if the pain is not controlled with Tylenol and Ibuprofen as a combo regimen.
99% of rib fractures heal without surgery and cause no long-term problems. Unless the lungs are punctured, generally people with rib fractures are not kept overnight in the hospital. The treatment is time and mild pain medication. Unfortunately, no brace or cast has been found an effective treatment, and in fact they cause complications like pneumonia. Encourage him to breath deep even though it may hurt, because it is the best way to avoid pneumonia.
Hope it helps!!
Dr. Bose
Hope it helps!!
Dr. Bose
Surgery is not indicated for non displaced rib fractures. Take a peak at Creed Ii
No, there is very little reason to operate on fractured ribs. We only do that in rare situations where a large segment of the chest wall sucks in during breathing, what is known as a "flail chest." A flail chest will lead to a collapsed lung. But otherwise, ribs should be left to heal on their own. Fractured ribs are very painful, but surgery only makes that worse!
Surgery for rib fractures are rarely necessary. Most of the time they will heal in about 6 weeks.
