We reviewed 94 consecutive patients who underwent resection of soft tissue or bone tumors of the chest wall between September 1989 and December 1996. There were 3 females and 91 males ranging in age from 12 to 69 years (median, 22.85 years); 16 had a primary malignant tumor, 11 had a metastatic tumor, and 67 had a benign tumor. Sixty-four patients underwent resection of the chest wall skeleton. Overlying soft tissue was resected en bloc in 15 patients. Chest wall defects were not reconstructed with prosthetic material or autogenous grafts because the defects were not large. Soft tissue reconstructive procedures were predominantly muscle transposition. There were no early postoperative complications and the median hospitalization was 14.2 days (range, 6 to 47 days). Follow-up was complete in all patients and ranged from 2 to 36 months (median, 24.5 months). All patients with benign tumors are currently alive. Recurrent chest wall tumors developed in 5 patients and they underwent a second operation. Nine patients died from distant metastases. There were no early or late deaths related to either resection or reconstruction of the chest wall. We conclude that wide or adequate chest wall resection, depending on histopathologic type of tumor, is the key to successful management of chest wall tumors. In general, this procedure can be performed in one operation with a short hospital stay and low operative mortality.
Experience with titanium devices for rib fixation and coverage of chest wall defects
