I know YANMD and MRMV but, someone I know had a bicycle wreck last night; he went over the handlebars and broke his sternum and some ribs.
He is not insured at all, although he would definitely qualify for state medical assistance. Is it likely that the hospital will boot him out sometime today, or would this injury warrant another night as an inpatient?
Once the patient is stabilized there’s no reason for them to be in the hospital for a broken bone.
My daughter fell off a horse and broke her clavicle and was only in the hospital overnight. There wasn’t a whole lot they could do about it.
Medical advice is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Unless there are complications such as a punctured lung or damage to internal organs, I doubt more time in the hospital is warranted. I fell off a mule once and broke four ribs. I went to the emergency room the next morning and all they did was take X-rays, diagnose the break, give me some really nice painkillers, and send me home.
Here’s the typical treatment for an ordinary sternal fracture:
None of this requires hospitalization. Nothing much can be done for broken ribs or a fractured sternum except avoiding further damage and allowing time to heal.
As noted above unless there is extenuating circumstances broken ribs and sternum are treated outpatient with pain medications and breathing exercises.
That’s the nice thing about torso fractures. Once the medics have determined that all the ends are lined up, it’s mostly a matter of avoiding strenuous actions that could cause further damage. The broken bones are supported and kept in alignment by adjacent bones. Your friend might get a compression wrap to reduce movement, but that’s about it now.
A broken sternum can be very serious. I would imagine they are checking him closely for heart and lung problems.