A Cohort Study on the Comparison of Complications, Short-Term Efficacy, and Quality of Life between Thoracoscopic Surgery and Traditional Surgery in the Treatment of Rib Fractures

OBJECTIVE: A case-control study was conducted, to assess the complications, short-term effectiveness, and quality of life of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with conventional surgery in the treatment of rib fractures. METHODS: From February 2018 to April 2021, 100 patients with rib fractures who required surgical treatment at the hospital were selected. Patients were randomly divided into control and study groups. The study group received thoracoscopy-assisted rib internal fixation, and the control group received traditional open reduction and internal fixation for rib fractures. The treatment effect, postoperative complication rate, surgery-related indicators, stress response, blood gas indicators, VAS (visual analog scale) pain score, and SF-36 quality of life score were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The total effective rate of the study group was higher than that of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The postoperative complications in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (χ(2)-5.317; P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in hospitalization costs between the two groups (P > 0.05). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, incision length, drainage tube placement time, postoperative activity time, and hospital stay in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group. The SF-36 score and VAS score in the study group were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the two groups after the operation, the levels of PaO2, SaO2, and PaO2/FiO2 in the study group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Before surgery, there was no significant difference in stress response indicators such as cortisol, blood sugar, and C-reactive protein between the two groups (P > 0.05), but there was no significant difference in stress response indicators after surgery (P > 0.05). Cortisol, blood sugar, C-reactive protein, and other indicators were increased in both groups, but compared with the control group, the study group had decreased postoperative cortisol, blood sugar, C-reactive protein, and other stress response indicators (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: There is a significant difference between thoracoscopic surgery and traditional surgery in the treatment of rib fractures. The probability of postoperative complications of thoracoscopic surgery is lower, and the operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and incision length are better. The pain of patients before and after the operation is significantly reduced, the quality of life is improved greatly, and the stress response is weak.