Doctors are warning about the dangers of a chronic cough after treating a man who broke a rib from coughing too hard.
The 54-year-old patient had to have part of the bone removed and replaced with a metal rod because the broken rib had not healed properly and was pressing on a nerve in his chest.
The unnamed man, of Italian origin, was a heavy smoker who had been involved in an accident years earlier that weakened his rib cage.
Several coughing fits in 2023 landed him in the emergency room until the pain became so unbearable that he had to undergo surgery last September.
The man had broken his eighth left rib in half and constant coughing prevented it from healing. The bone tissue was pressing on a nerve in his chest, causing him excruciating pain.
Pieces of bone tissue had formed into a solidified mass between the broken bone. This was removed to relieve pressure (as shown above).
Scans showed he had broken his eighth rib on his left side, leaving a one-and-a-half-inch gap in the middle of the bone.
The wound had not healed properly (partly due to the patient’s constant coughing), resulting in pieces of bone tissue forming into a solidified mass.
This mass of tissue was pressing on his intercostal nerves, which run through the ribs, chest and stomach.
Surgeons made a small incision in his chest to remove the extra bone formation, which would release pressure on the nerve and relieve the patient’s pain.
The team then inserted a thin, three-inch metal rod screwed into the rib, known as a splint, to hold the broken rib together.
Within 24 hours of surgery, the patient was completely pain-free and remained symptom-free six weeks later.
His The tale was revealed in the American Journal of Case Reports by Milanese surgeons who operated on him.
In the report, doctors said: ‘A 54-year-old man presented with chronic cough-induced left chest wall pain.
“…the CT scan showed a pseudoarthrosis of a fracture of the left posterior eighth rib. After the failure of medical treatment, we proposed a surgical approach with the aim of removing the tissue comprising the pseudoarthrosis, freeing the nerve and stabilizing the bone stumps.”
They added: ‘The pain disappeared immediately after surgery. The patient was discharged within 24 hours.
‘At 6 weeks follow-up, he was still asymptomatic and a new CT scan reconfirmed the correct position of the splint.
‘From the immediate postoperative evaluation to the last follow-up visit, he consistently reported complete satisfaction.’
The team was relieved to learn that the patient did not require painkillers during follow-up because he had previously become addicted to prescription opioids after a previous visit to the hospital.
The patient was found to be deficient in vitamin D, which can weaken bones and lead to osteoporosis, a bone disease that increases the risk of serious fractures.
Doctors recommend that you see your doctor if you have a cough that persists for weeks, especially if it produces sputum or blood, disrupts your sleep, or affects school or work.
