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Prospective Follow up of Minimally Invasive Chest Wall Surgery After Trauma

Completed
Conditions
Rib; Fracture, Multiple, With Flail Chest
Interventions
Procedure: Minimally invasive surgical fixation of unstable rib cage
Procedure: Large incision surgical fixation of unstable rib cage.
Registration Number
NCT04710602
Lead Sponsor
Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden
Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess the outcome of a muscle sparing, minimally invasive open surgical technique for unstable ribcage injuries after trauma. The investigators will compare the results from the study participants to a historical cohort who were operated with a different surgical technique with large incisions and simultaneous thoracotomy.

Detailed Description

This is a prospective follow-up study where the investigators aim to study patients who have undergone surgery with a muscle sparing, minimally invasive technique for unstable ribcage after trauma. The investigators plan on seeing the participants as out patients 6 months and 1 year after surgery. The results will be compared to results from a historical cohort with patients who participated in earlier studies with a different surgical method with large incisions and simultaneous thoracotomy. The investigators plan on including 50 patients since a preliminary analysis has suggested this should be enough to notice statistically significant differences between the groups.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
100
Inclusion Criteria
  • Patients with chest wall trauma who underwent surgical stabilisation for unstable chest wall using a minimally invasive, muscle sparing technique without thoracotomy or thoracoscopy no more than 6 months prior to inclusion.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Severe head injury (Abbreviated Injury score (AIS) >3)
  • Spinal injury
  • Neurological or musculoskeletal disease affecting chest wall mobility

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Minimally invasiveMinimally invasive surgical fixation of unstable rib cagePatients who underwent surgery with a muscle sparing, minimally invasive technique for unstable chest wall after trauma.
Historical controlLarge incision surgical fixation of unstable rib cage.Patients who underwent surgery with large incisions and simultaneous thoracotomy for unstable chest wall after trauma.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Vital capacity of the lungs.One year after surgery.

Vital capacity (VC) measured with spirometry.

Peak expiratory flow of the lungs.One year after surgery.

Peak expiratory flow measured with spirometry.

Forced vital capacity of the lungs.One year after surgery.

Forced vital capacity (VC) measured with spirometry.

Forced expiratory volume of the lungs.One year after surgery.

Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) measured with spirometry.

Forced expiratory volume percent of the lungs.One year after surgery.

Forced expiratory volume in 1 second divided with forced vital capacity, measured with spirometry.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Respiratory movementSix months and one year after surgery.

Movement of chest wall during respiration measured with Respiratory Movement Measuring Instrument (RMMI).

Quality of life EQ-5D-5LSix months and one year after surgery.

Quality of life assessed with the EuroQol (European Quality of Life) Five Dimension Five Level Scale (EQ-5D-5L). A 5-dimensional scale in which each dimension has 5 levels where 1 represents the best outcome and 5 represents the worst outcome.

DisabilitySix months and one year after surgery.

Degree of disability assessed with Disability Rating Index (DRI) scale ranging from 0-100 where higher scores indicate more disability.

Physical activitySix months and one year after surgery.

Physical activity assessed with Grimby activity scale ranging from 1-6 where 6 indicates the highest level of activity.

Radiological healingOne year after surgery.

Radiological signs of healing of the participants rib fractures assessed with CT scan. Fractures will be denoted as healed, partially healed or with no signs of healing.

Shoulder mobilitySix months and one year after surgery.

Shoulder mobility assessed with Boström index, a scale ranging from 5-30 for each shoulder where 30 represents the greatest range of movement.

Strength of respiratory musclesSix months and one year after surgery.

Strength of respiratory muscles measured with Maximal Inspiratory Pressure (MIP) and Maximal Expiratory Pressure (MEP).

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Sahlgrenska University Hospital

🇸🇪

Gothenburg, Sweden

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