Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The surgical team of Indore’s Super Speciality Hospital successfully operated upon a rare and challenging case of a Chest wall tumour in a 22-year-old girl. 

The patient was diagnosed with a large tumor involving the anterior chest wall on the right side. The case was challenging because of several reasons, such as: 

The large tumor involved four ribs, starting from the first rib, and reaching close to the sternum.

Axillary and subclavian vessels were in close proximity to the tumor.

Anterior location of the tumor made reconstruction difficult. It was necessary to ensure adequate reconstruction of both pleura and ribs to prevent deformity of the breast and chest wall in a young girl.

A long segment of several ribs needed to be removed to ensure an oncologically safe margin. 

Patient discharged after 6 days

During surgery, long segments of the first four ribs and part of the sternum were removed with an oncologically safe margin, sparing the critical neurovascular structures in the axilla (axillary and subclavian vessels) and anterior mediastinum (aorta and SVC). 

The pleural cavity was reconstructed with a prolene mesh, and the chest wall was reconstructed with implants. Extremely long implants were needed for rib reconstruction, and they were not available locally. They were custom-made and sourced from Ahmedabad. 

Fortunately, the patient recovered well following surgery and was discharged on post-op day 6.