Search

Thoracic wall reconstruction after oncologic resection remains a complex form of surgery that implies a multidisciplinary approach. The purpose of this study is to present our experience in full thickness thoracic wall reconstruction after tumor resection. A retrospective study, including patients who were operated for full thickness thoracic wall defects after tumor resection, was undertaken. The type of bone and soft tissue reconstruction and the patient outcome was evaluated. Between 1998 and 2011, a total of ten patients underwent full thickness thoracic wall resection and reconstruction. All patients were reconstructed during a single-stage surgery. In all cases, bone reconstruction was accomplished by a polytetrafluoroethylene patch (Gore-Tex), while soft tissue reconstruction required either muscle or musculocutaneous pedicled flaps such as latissimus dorsi, rectus abdominis, or pectoralis major flaps. In this series, no major complications (infection, respiratory or cardiac failure, or deaths) were detected. Usually treated as palliative surgery, thoracic wall resection and immediate reconstruction allows large wall resection which, in association with adjuvant therapy, can potentially cure patients who have had a primary tumor or a unique metastasis. Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study.