Objective To analyze the clinical efficacy of internal rib fixation combined with external chest fixation and mechanical ventilation for traumatic flail chest with pulmonary contusion.Methods Sixty cases of traumatic flail chest with pulmonary contusion treated from January 2011 to December 2014 were assigned to experimental group (30 cases) and control group (30 cases) according to the random number table.Patients in control group received thoracic external fixation combined with mechanical ventilation.In experimental group the patients received the same care but in addition they had rib fixation.The two groups were compared with regard to general condition, arterial blood gas as well as vital signs before treatment and 24 hours after treatment, lung function 3 months after discharge, complication rate and mortality.Results ICU stay [(6.8 ± 1.0) d], hospital stay [(15.0 ± 1.8) d] and duration of mechanical ventilation [(4.8 ± 1.0) d] in experimental group were significantly lower than these in control group [(13.6 ± 2.5) d, (21.4 ± 2.6) d, (10.3 ± 1.3) d, respectively] (P ＜ 0.01).After treatment for 24 hours in either group, the pH value, PaO2, oxygenation index and systolic pressure (SBP) were significantly increased, and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2), heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) were significantly lowered as compared to these before treatment (P ＜0.05).After treatment for 24 hours, experimental group demonstrated significantly enhanced levels in pH value,PaO2, oxygenation index and SBP but lowered levels in PaCO2, HR and RR as compared to control group (P ＜ 0.05).Three months after discharge, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow (PEF), 75％ forced expiratory flow (FEF75％) and total lung capacity (TLC) in experimental group were (81.7 ±2.6)％, (75.4 ±4.1)％, (83.2 ±4.6)％,(69.1 ±2.3)％, and (88.7 ±3.4)％ respectively, significantly higher than (69.0 ±3.6)％, (71.3 ± 3.9) ％, (78.9 ± 4.3) ％, (62.3 ± 3.3) ％, and (79.0 ± 4.6) ％ respectively in control group (P ＜0.01).In experimental group, there were four cases of pulmonary infection (13％), three pulmonary atelectasis(10％) and one intercostal neuralgia (3％).In control group, there were six cases of pulmonary infection (20％), five pulmonary atelectasis (17％), four intercostal neuralgia (13％) and four thoracocyllosis(13％)(P ＜0.05).There was no significant difference in mortality between the two groups.Conclusion Treatment effect of internal rib fixation for flail chest with pulmonary contusion is improved in combination with mechanical ventilation and external chest fixation.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of the single and mixed decoction of Thallus laminariae (kelp) and Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) on the metabolism and their difference. The mixed decoction of kelp and licorice and the single decoction were made and intragastrically administered to the SD rats. The effect on system metabolism, the toxicity of liver and kidney were assessed by GC-MS profiling of the endogenous molecules in serum, routine biochemical assays and histographic inspection of tissues from SD rats, separately. The mixed decoction of kelp and licorice induced more obvious pathological abnormalities in SD rats than a single decoction of kelp, while the extracts of licorice did not show any pathological change. Neither the mixed, nor the single decoction showed abnormal histopathology. After intragastric administration of extracts for 5 days, the mixed decoction induced a decrease of ALT (no significant change in the groups of single decoction) and an increase of BUN (so did the single decoction of kelp). Metabolomic profile of the molecules in serum revealed that the metabolic patterns were all obviously affected for the three groups, i.e., the mixed and single decoction of kelp and licorice. The rats given with the single decoction of kelp showed a similar pattern to that of the mixed decoction, indicating that the kelp primarily contributed the perturbation of metabolism for the mixed decoction. All three groups induced a decrease of branched chain amino acids, TCA cycle intermediates and glycolysis intermediates (e.g., pyruvic acid and lactic acid) and an increase of 3-hydroxybutyric acid. Kelp decoction showed stronger potential in reducing TCA cycle intermediates and glycolysis intermediates than the other two groups, while the levels of branched chain amino acids were the lowest after licorice extracts were given. These results suggested that the effect of the mixed decoction on metabolism was closely associated with both kelp and licorice. The continuous administration of single decoction of kelp and the mixed decoction of licorice and kelp resulted in pathological abnormalities in kidney of SD rats. The mixed decoction of kelp and licorice distinctly perturbed sera molecules and hence system metabolism, which showed associated with those of kelp and licorice. Although the metabolic effect was associated with both kelp and licorice, the results suggested kelp contributed to it primarily.