The lives of elderly patients with broken ribs are being put at risk because emergency departments and GPs are failing to refer them for up-to-date assessment and treatment.
Breathing difficulties caused by these injuries can lead to the lung infection pneumonia, which is especially dangerous for older people. A revolutionary two-hour procedure that involves implanting flexible titanium splints to support the fractures while they heal was approved for NHS use in 2010, and has been shown to slash lung infection rates. But according to DePuy Synthes, which manufactures the unique Matrix Rib Fixation System, the implants have been used only in a total of 350 cases – although the Health & Social Care Information Centre say there were 29,401 hospital consultations involving rib fractures last year alone.
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A revolutionary two-hour procedure that involves implanting flexible titanium splints to support the fractures while they heal was approved for NHS use in 2010, pictured is how the operation works
Filed under: Elderly, GP's, Hospital, NHS, broken ribs, elderly patients, GP's, NHS, pneumonia
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