ISOLATED BILATERAL FIRST-RIB FRACTURES - AN UNUSUAL SEQUEL OF WHIPLASH INJURY

Fractures of the first rib are extremely rare and are more commonly as sociated with either multiple rib fractures or life-threatening injuri es, First rib fractures are commonly caused by direct trauma, violent muscular contraction or by chronic stress. We present a ease of isolat ed bilateral rib fracture in an Elderly patient, ill the absence of.mu ltiple trauma, where the mechanism of injury appears to be a whiplash injury. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.