If you’re looking at information related to heart surgery and recovery, chances are you’ve heard about heart pillows (also known as chest or cough pillows).
Complications after heart surgery are bad news for patients, but also for hospitals. Wound complications in a patient can be devastating financially for hospitals, especially when handling Medicare and co-morbid patients. The cost to hospitals can range from $13,000 to $100,000 per complication. Then add on the financial penalties that hospitals face for having excessive readmissions according to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. It’s evident that there is a great need to reduce the chances of complications following a patient’s surgery.
Rib fractures are surprisingly common. Just like with every other bone, ribs can be fractured in multiple different ways, and the specifics are crucial in deciding treatment and care. Rib fractures can be uncomplicated, which means that the bone is broken in only one location, or complicated, which means that the ribs are broken in multiple locations or are extremely unstable. Because of the location and huge responsibility of the ribs themselves, even an uncomplicated rib fracture could lead to serious complications; internal chest bleeding, lung collapse, fluid accumulation, and countless other medical issues can arise. As a result, there are a few important things to consider when you have a fractured rib.
How often do you think about breathing? Whenever we have difficulty breathing, it seems that's all we can think about. Luckily, with respiratory splinting, breathing can become easy and natural again if we've been suffering from pain.