Treatment of a flail injury of the chest. A case report with consideration of the evolution of therapy.

A patient with flail-chest injury, and associated abdominal and musculo-skeletal trauma, required several modes of mechanical ventilation in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit Ventilator modalities included mechanical ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and intermittent mandatory ventilation (IMV) with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) during 12 days of intensive respiratory care. This treatment has resulted from an evolution of ideas about pathophysiology and treatment of the flail-chest injury. Future developments portend a shorter duration of ventilatory support; alternatively, a radically new mode of therapy may simplify the care of the flail-chest injured patient.