Following a minimally displaced fracture of the 8th rib after chest trauma, in addition to analgesia, what is the most appropriate next step?

• A. Chest X-Ray
• B. Spirometry
• C. CT Chest
• D. Observation

Answer: (B)

A rib fracture, even when minimally displaced, can make breathing painful and shallow. If patients avoid taking deep breaths, the lungs aren’t fully ventilated, which raises the risk of atelectasis and pneumonia. Analgesia helps with comfort, but the key preventive step is to actively promote lung expansion. Spirometry, essentially incentive breathing exercises, gives the patient a guided way to take long, deep breaths and sustain them. This increases lung volumes, improves alveolar ventilation, and helps mobilize secretions, directly addressing the respiratory complication risk after chest trauma. While imaging and observation have roles in broader assessment, the priority in this scenario is preventing pulmonary complications, which is achieved by spirometry.