Surgical treatment of costal cartilage fractures with titanium plate internal fixation

BACKGROUND: This study aim to evaluate surgical procedures for titanium plate internal fixation of costal cartilage fractures with displacement or nonunion. METHODS: From January 2019 to October 2020, 13 patients with costal cartilage fractures were treated with titanium plate internal fixation in the thoracic surgery department of the Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital. Pain severity scale scores and respiratory function were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively. All the patients had a 6-month follow-up for treatment evaluation. RESULTS: The mean hospital length of stay was 10.7 days. A statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) was found between preoperative and postoperative pain severity scores (7.69 vs. 5.00). VC (24.6% vs. 44.5%) and FEV1 (25.3% vs. 44.0%) were also significantly different before operation and after operation (P < 0.05). At follow-up, healing of the nonunion or fracture was confirmed in all the cases. CONCLUSION: The rigid titanium plate application ensured a safe and easy management of costal cartilage fractures and nonunion with a good prognosis as compared with other methods.