Better late than never? Efficacy of late surgical stabilization of acute rib fractures as compared to nonoperative management.
BACKGROUND Surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF) for severe chest wall injury has increased, with research showing improved outcomes compared with nonoperative management. Ideally, SSRF is performed within 3 days of injury. We hypothesize that late SSRF (days 5 to 14 post-injury) provides benefit over nonopera...