The symptoms of a broken rib may be as follows:
- Pain (mild to severe);
- and sensitivity at the site of the injury, including moving (rotating the body), breathing deeply, laughing, coughing or pressing the affected thoracic region.
When there is only a simple rib fracture, with no impairment of breathing and no lesions of internal organs, treatment is based on the use of pain medications, avoiding physical exercises and performing breathing exercises. Consolidation occurs after three to six weeks.
Rib fractures may be accompanied by injuries to internal organs, depending on which rib was broken. Fractures in upper ribs can cause lesions in large vessels or nerves, those located in the middle of the thorax can reach the lungs, and the lower ones can cause lesions of organs such as the spleen and liver, often requiring some kind of surgery for your treatment. The symptoms, in this case, will be much more evident, being able to have shortness of breath, fainting, pallor, intense pain, among others.
In case of chest trauma, especially in suspected fractures, a general practitioner or preferably an orthopaedist should be consulted. It will evaluate the type of fracture that has occurred (if any), if there has been damage to internal organs and if there is a need for any surgical procedure.
