How often do you think about breathing? For most of us, it's an unconscious action—until it becomes painful. For patients recovering from thoracic surgery, every breath can be a reminder of their healing journey. Fortunately, with proper respiratory splinting, breathing can become easy and natural again, even during recovery.
If you're researching information related to heart surgery and recovery, you've likely come across mentions of heart pillows (also known as chest or cough pillows). For years, these pillows have been standard issue in many hospitals for patients recovering from heart surgery or sternotomies. The traditional thinking was that heart pillows could provide comfort and support when patients needed to cough, sneeze, or manage pain.
Complications after heart surgery aren't just bad news for patients—they also impact 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.