How to diagnose rib fracture

summary

Ribs are organs that protect our body. If there are no ribs, our organs will be exposed, but ribs are easy to fracture. Let's talk about the diagnosis of rib fracture.

How to diagnose rib fracture

First of all, the fracture can occur in one or several ribs. Generally, only one rib is broken, and a few ribs are broken in front and back, which is called double fracture. In the case of multiple double fractures, the thorax loses its support. Therefore, when breathing in, it will sag inward due to the increase of negative pressure in the thorax; when breathing out, it will protrude outward due to the decrease of negative pressure in the thorax, which is an abnormal respiratory activity. Pneumothorax can be formed when the fracture end or foreign body pierces the pleura and the air enters the pleura cavity; hemothorax can be formed when the blood flows into the thoracic cavity when the blood vessels in the lung and chest wall are pierced. It is very dangerous to have hemothorax. It will lead to respiratory obstruction and eventually suffocation. We must pay attention to this.

Secondly, rib fracture has obvious history of trauma, local pain, obvious tenderness, swelling or ecchymosis, deep breathing and speaking. The pain increases when you cough. When you turn over or sit up in bed, you can feel bone rubbing. Multiple ribs with double fractures, local anti plaster breathing may occur. The rib is located under the skin, and the whole length can be touched by hand. It is easy to measure the tenderness, swelling or deformity of the fracture.

Finally, rib fracture without displacement should be differentiated from chest contusion. The former has obvious indirect tenderness, that is, squeezing the chest before and after the tenderness point (the two hands can also be placed on the sternum and spine respectively) can aggravate the original tenderness point, while the latter has only direct tenderness. X-ray film does not show, the diagnosis mainly depends on the history and clinical signs, especially the correct and detailed determination of indirect tenderness. After 2-3 weeks, the fracture line was visible only when the fracture end was partially absorbed and a small amount of callus was formed.

matters needing attention

Rib fracture people in life should pay attention to bed rest, do not do very tired physical labor, and do not eat stimulating food, diet should be light appetizer, easy to digest, easy to absorb food, such as vegetables, eggs, bean products, fruits, fish soup, lean meat, etc.