First aid for rib fractures. How to distinguish a bruise from a fracture

This article will focus on first aid forrib fractures, classification of injuries, symptoms and treatment. In addition, we will focus on the differences between the bruise and the fracture, so that a person inexperienced in medicine can easily distinguish these injuries from each other and provide the first necessary help to the injured.

Now we give some statistical information.To begin with, the rib fractures result from the physical impact on the human chest. According to statistics, about 70 percent of people turn to medical facilities with rib injuries. In addition, at 16 percent revealed a fracture.

Often, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are subject to such injuries.the ribs. This is easily explained by the fact that those below are protected in the form of a muscular corset. In addition, these edges do not have such flexibility as the others.

Classification

We now turn to the issue of classification of rib injuries. It is important to note that here it is possible to present the classification according to various criteria. You will learn more about it from the table below.

How to distinguish a contusion from a fracture

In this section, we will teach you to distinguish a rib injury.from their fracture. Different things can happen in life: they stumbled, fell, boys at school often fight without thinking about the consequences, and so on. How to distinguish the injury of the ribs? It is important to note that there are several significant differences between a rib bruise and its fracture. These include the following:

• the fracture is characterized by acute pain, this can be explained by bone damage (it is important to note that the pain syndrome is aggravated when trying to move or cough);
• if a rib is broken, a bruise appears, you can feel the friction of bones against each other;
• It is very easy to distinguish an open fracture from a bruise, since the bone damages the skin of a person;
• если это не перелом, а просто ушиб, то only soft tissue is damaged, you can feel a nagging pain, notice a small hematoma and edema (special attention should be paid to the deformation of the chest, with such a bruise will not be detected).

The victim must seek help at any nearby medical facility, even if he correctly diagnosed the condition.

Symptoms

This section of the article will be devoted to features.rib fracture. How to self-diagnose your condition? This will help the symptoms. First, select the signs of a fracture without damage to the skin (that is, closed) and internal organs:

• dull severe pain (it is aggravated when trying to move, cough, take a deep breath);
• posture (at the fracture of the ribs, the person tries to adopt a posture that will reduce chest movement; these include: leaning toward a broken rib or chest girth);
• поверхностное дыхание (опять же это связано с by the fact that during deep inhalation the movement of the chest occurs, resulting in increased pain; in order to minimize it, a person tries to breathe superficially);
• hematoma (a large hematoma forms over the damaged rib);
• Another sign of rib fracture is chest deformity (this symptom is clearly pronounced in thin people, especially with multiple fractures).

Now we consider the signs of an open fracture or with damage to internal organs:

• damaged skin (the bone is outside);
• rapid pulse;
• pale skin;
• if there is damage to the lung, difficulty breathing appears, bleeding from the respiratory tract;
• damage to the aorta leads to the death of the injured person at the scene of the accident, since abundant hemorrhage occurs (such cases are extremely rare);
• heart damage in 70 percent of cases leads todeath in the first minutes, hours and days; even if a person has survived an injury, his life will be hindered by a number of diseases, such as chronic coronary insufficiency, dystrophic cardiosclerosis;
• damage to the liver leads to death, as a rule, in these cases, a person dies two hours after the injury.

Healing Stages

The healing of a fracture or a fracture in the rib is a long process that requires the close supervision of a specialist. In total, there are three stages of healing. They are presented in the table below.

First aid for rib fractures

If a person has damaged a rib in front of your eyes, then it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance, while you wait for it, try to do the most useful for the patient:

1. To begin, make sure that you are dealing with a fracture (how to do this was described above).
2. Give the affected person an anesthetic drug.
3. Using improvised means (bandages, towels, cloth), apply a tight bandage to the patient's chest. In order that it delivered less discomfort, the bandage should be imposed on the exhale.
4. Next, you need to attach something cold to the place of injury.
5. При оказании первой помощи при переломах ребра It is necessary to give the victim a half-sitting position. Please note that the items should be performed in exact sequence. The back of the patient must be firmly supported.

This is all that you can do for a patient at a given time.

Diagnostics

A number of procedures are performed to diagnose a fracture in a medical facility:

• poll;
• inspection.

Next, you need to find out the degree of damage, for this you need to do:

• x-ray (where you can take a picture, the doctor will tell you, usually in the same institution);
• CT scan;
• ultrasound examination of the chest.

Treatment

The treatment is carried out with the help of plaster orelastic bandage, which fixes the position of the patient, and painkillers. For minor injuries, non-narcotic pain relievers are used, in more severe cases, narcotic.

Features bed rest

How to sleep with broken ribs?This question worries many patients. It all depends on where the fracture occurred. If the edges of the front wall are damaged, then you need to sleep on your back, always on a hard surface. If the back is damaged, you should sleep and lie on the opposite side.

First aid for rib fractures is necessary for the victim while waiting for an ambulance. It is important to be able to competently render it. How to do this, you learned from this article.