Nuss Procedure for Severe Flail Chest After Blunt Trauma

Flail chest is a life-threatening condition that occurs when 3 or more consecutive ribs are segmentally fractured due to severe trauma and become detached from the rest of the thoracic cage. Flail chest is usually associated with other intrathoracic injuries, including pulmonary contusion, which can result in respiratory failure. We present a case of a 44-year-old man who was hit by a truck and a forklift resulting in multiple rib fractures bilaterally, and bilateral hemopneumothorax along with left chest wall depression and severe flail chest. The Nuss procedure was performed for both stabilization of severe flail chest and elevation of the depressed chest wall. The patient was weaned from mechanical ventilation on the first postoperative day and was ultimately discharged without any complications. (C) 2015 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons