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Looking up into ribcage

Fixing Ribs-view up into ribcage

Our ribs form a strong, flexible basket that encloses the lungs and heart. They move with every breath we take, and their delicate structure makes them susceptible to fractures, especially in the back. A new procedure invented at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center stabilizes a broken rib, speeds healing, and reduces the patient's pain.

Dr. Peter Dillon

Fixing Ribs-Peter Dillon

Dr. Peter Dillon, chief of surgery at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and professor of surgery at Penn State College of Medicine, spurred the team to develop a minimally-invasive way to stabilize broken ribs.

Barry Fell

Fixing Ribs-Barry Fell

Biomedical engineer Barry Fell experimented with a slab of ribs from a local grocery store. Like Mackay, he has personal experience with broken ribs.

Randy Haluck

Fixing Ribs-Haluck

As chief of minimally invasive surgery at the Penn State Medical Center, Dr. Randy Haluck had a lot of experience using a thoracoscope to do surgery in the chest through very small incisions. He thought the scope could be adapted to repair broken ribs in a way that was much less traumatic to patients than the conventional procedure.

Don Mackay

Fixing Ribs-Mackay

Surgeon Dr. Don Mackay knows firsthand how much it hurts to breathe after a chest injury: He suffered broken ribs himself in a car crash.

interior view of rib fixation device

Fixing Ribs-model interior view

The fixation plate is attached to the inner surface of the rib using fiber optics, very small incisions, and a procedure Dr. Randy Haluck compares to building a ship in a bottle.

View from fiber-optic camera inserted into chest

Fixing Ribs-rib op on screen

The surgeons' view, via a fiber-optic camera and a thoracoscope inserted low in the chest, shows the curved ribs, the reddish intercostal muscles between them, and a fixation plate in the process of being attached to a rib to fix, or stabilize, it. After the bolts are secured, the thin cables they were suspended on are withdrawn through a small incision.

rib cage encloses heart and lungs

Fixing Ribs-rib break

Injuries to the ribs can occur anywhere on the ribcage, including the back and the sides. Even a single broken rib can make breathing very painful. As a result, people with a broken rib tend to avoid breathing deeply, which can lead to fluid build-up in the lungs, infection, and even death.