At the end of the second book in the triology I'm working on, my MC (an 18-year old girl) suffers some broken ribs, one of which punctures her lung. I've been able to find plenty of information on symptoms of broken ribs/collapsed lungs, but not enough on how this type of injury is treated-- everything I'm finding addresses collapsed lungs do to "sucking chest wounds" or emphysema.
My question is, how would doctors (in a modern hospital) treat this? What I'm finding is that they would intubate and go in and staple the wound shut (and I'm guessing reposition the ribs), but I can't find any information about what the recovery is like. Would she have a chest tube left in place while it healed? Would she be intubated after the surgery? And how long would she be in the hospital?
My last question... would a single, really hard kick be enough to cause this kind of injury?
Thanks in advance for the help!!
My question is, how would doctors (in a modern hospital) treat this? What I'm finding is that they would intubate and go in and staple the wound shut (and I'm guessing reposition the ribs), but I can't find any information about what the recovery is like. Would she have a chest tube left in place while it healed? Would she be intubated after the surgery? And how long would she be in the hospital?
My last question... would a single, really hard kick be enough to cause this kind of injury?
Thanks in advance for the help!!