International Journal of Nursing Research

Objective To investigate the effect of mechanical assisted sputum excretion in the nursing of patients with rib fractures to prevent pulmonary infection, and to provide a basis the optimization of clinical nursing schemes. Methods A total of 76 patients with rib fractures admitted to the Department of Thoracic Surgery of our hospital from April 223 to April 2025 were selected and divided into control group and observation group according to the randomized numerical table method, with 38 cases in each group. control group was treated with routine sputum nursing, and the observation group was treated with mechanical assisted sputum excretion on the basis of routine nursing. The sput excretion effect, pulmonary function index, incidence of pulmonary infection and hospital-related indicators of the two groups were compared. Results The average daily sputum exion volume of the observation group was more than that of the control group within 1 week of treatment, and the sputum excretion difficulty score was significantly lower than that the control group (P < 0.05). After nursing, FVC, FEV₁ and SpO₂ of the observation group were higher than those of the group (P < 0.05). The incidence of pulmonary infection in the observation group was lower than that in the control group, and the hospital stay was shorter that in the control group (P < 0.05). The satisfaction rate of nursing in the observation group (94.74%) was higher than that in control group (78.95%) (P < 0.05). Conclusion Mechanical assisted sputum excretion can effectively improve the sput excretion effect of patients with rib fractures, improve pulmonary function, reduce the risk of pulmonary infection, shorten the hospital stay, and improve the satisfaction rate of nursing which is worth promoting in the clinic.

Mechanical assisted sputum removal; Rib fracture; Pulmonary infection; Nursing effect; Pulmonary function