Placement of KANI® plate inside the chest wall for rib fixation: Prevention for organ injuries caused by crossed rib edges and plate claws.

Abstract

The claw-type titanium plate has been successfully applied to manage a flail chest. However, rare and life-threatening organ injury occurs due to an insufficient claw bend. We report an ingenuity of surgical fixation using KANI® plates (USCI Japan, Tokyo, Japan) in a flail chest. A 60-year-old man with a severe flail chest underwent a surgical rib fixation. He had multiple rib fractures accompanied by dislocation and protruding crossed rib edges; we assumed a possibility of lung injury during a standard procedure in which the KANI® plates would be placed from outside the chest wall. Therefore, we placed KANI® plates inside the chest wall to ensure sufficient claw bend and to cover crossed rib edges to prevent organ injuries. We propose that our new ingenuity provides a safe and tight rib fixation in rib fractures with protruding crossed rib edges which the standard method cannot flatten.

• Authors: Asuka Uebayashi, Yusuke Takanashi, Mikako Oka, Kiyomichi Mizuno, Akikazu Kawase, Kazuhito Funai
• Journal: Respirology case reports (Respirol Case Rep) Vol. 10 Issue 4 Pg. e0914 (Apr 2022) ISSN: 2051-3380 [Print] United States
• PMID: 35251663 (Publication Type: Case Reports)
• Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Respirology Case Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.