Morbidity and Mortality After Rib Fracture in Elderly Patients (>65 Years Old) Compared to a Younger Cohort (≤65 Years of Age) at Doctor Hospital Renaissance Health.

BACKGROUND

Traumatic rib fracture is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Recent studies highlight the inadequacy of age and the number of rib fractures (NRFs) to assess patients' care needs, which may unnecessarily increase the burden of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. Therefore, we sought to clarify the clinical outcomes of patients admitted to a level I trauma center with multiple blunt-trauma rib fractures by age and fracture location.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients aged 18-95 admitted to Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health with multiple rib fractures during 2017-2020. Patients with major vascular/cerebral injuries or emergency surgery from other injuries were excluded. The study population comprised 71 patients aged ≤65 and 53 patients aged >65 years. The primary study outcomes included mortality and non-home discharge. ICU length of stay (ICU-LOS), total hospital length of stay (HLOS), and days on the ventilator were the secondary outcomes. Study outcomes were also analyzed by stratifying patients by fracture location.

RESULTS

Patients aged >65 years with multiple blunt-trauma rib fractures had lower mortality rates despite a higher prevalence of comorbidities but with higher rates of non-home discharges compared to younger patients. However, the mortality and non-home discharge odds ratios were not statistically significant. Also, median ICU-LOS and HLOS were numerically higher in geriatric patients but were not statistically significant. Nonetheless, younger patients required significantly more days of respiratory support than older patients. Similar differences were observed in the clinical outcome of patients ≤65 or >65 years when stratified by fracture locations.

CONCLUSION

Young patients with blunt trauma rib fractures may have similar, if not worse, clinical outcomes than geriatric patients. These findings underscore the need for individual assessment of the patient's trauma severity independent of age, the number of rib fractures, or fracture location to reduce ICU burden.