Surgical versus non-surgical treatment of flail chest: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Purpose: Conflicting evidence exists on the choice of surgical or non-surgical treatment of flail chest injuries. We aimed to perform a meta-analysis comparing outcomes in patients presenting flail chest undergoing surgical or non-surgical treatment.

Methods: Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing surgery to no surgery in patients with acute unstable chest wall injuries.