[Chest Wall Injury]

The thoracic wall protects the heart, great vessels, lungs, trachea, and bronchus, which are organs important for maintaining respiration/circulation, against external forces. Therefore, injury of the thoracic wall may necessitate emergency treatment. Such injury primarily consists of rib and sternal fractures. In particular, fractures of 2 or more consecutive ribs with each rib being fractured at 2 or more sites and serial rib fracture with sternal fracture lead to reverse thoracic movement involving contraction on inhalation and expansion on expiration. Such thoracic injury is termed flail chest. Injury of the thoracic wall, such as flail chest, markedly influences the prognosis. Therefore, it is necessary to promptly evaluate the general condition, involving respiratory/circulatory kinetics, confirm the presence or absence of concomitant injury, such as bruises of the lungs/heart, and accurately select therapeutic strategies, including artificial respiration and surgical intervention.