Experience of First Rib Resection for the Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

The patients with thoracic outlet syndrome have numbness of the upper limbs, stiff shoulder, pain on the neck and pain on the back, whose brachial plexuses and/or subclavian vessels are compressed at the thoracic outlet. However, etiology and diagnosis of the thoracic outlet syndrome are not certain yet. We performed first rib resections by transaxillary approach on five patients with thoracic outlet syndrome, and obtained good results. We think that this operation is not only safe and relatively easy but also excellent in its good results.