aetiology

Last reviewed 01/2018

The causes of a flail segment include:

• trauma to the lateral chest wall:
• a kick from a horse may yield a flail segment 15 cm in diameter

• trauma to the front of the chest:
• a car crash may drive the steering wheel into the chest
• the ribs on either side of the sternum may be fractures
• this may result in a large flail segment overlying the mediastinum