Abstract： Objective To summarize the application experience of Gore-Tex patch in clinical chest wall reconstruction. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed in 33 patients who underwent chest wall reconstruction using Gore-Tex patch from January 2001 to December 2010 in Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University. There were 19 men and 14 women, ranging in age from 20 to 73 years with a median age of 45.7 years. The surgical strategies included choosing different incisions according to tumor location and size, and preserving normal chest wall soft tissue as much as possible during surgery. Gore-Tex patch was used to reconstruct the huge chest wall defect, and covered by transferred muscle flaps. Results All the 33 patients underwent surgical reconstruction successfully and there was no perioperative death. Complete tumor resection was performed in all the patients, including 25 patients with malignant tumor and 8 patients with benign tumor. The diameter of the resected tumors ranged from 8 to 20 cm. All the patients were followed up from 5 to 60 months, except that 3 patients （9.09%） were lost during follow-up. There was no rejection response, abnormal breathing and foreign body sensation during follow-up. The infection incidence was 3%（1/33）. Conclusion Gore-Tex patch is a safe and effective material for chest wall reconstruction due to its excellent biocompatibility. Appropriate selection of muscle flap for covering Gore-Tex patch can reduce postoperative complications.
Objective To study the reconstruction method and effectiveness of titanium plate and Teflon patch for the chest wall after resection of sternal tumors. Methods Between October 2006 and November 2009, 4 patients with sternal tumors were treated and the thoracic cages were reconstructed. There were 2 males and 2 females, aged 30-55 years. The patientswere admitted because of chest lump or pain. The sizes of palpable lump ranged from 4 cm × 3 cm to 10 cm × 8 cm. CT examination showed bone destruction. After sternal tumor resection, defect size ranged from 10 cm × 8 cm to 18 cm × 14 cm, and titanium plate and Teflon patch were used to repair and reconstruct the chest wall defect. Results The operations of the tumor resection and reconstruction of chest wall defect were successfully performed in 4 cases. Incisions healed by first intention with no abnormal breath, subcutaneous emphysema, pneumothorax, and infection. One case failed to be followed up after 6 months; 1 case died of intracranial hemorrhage; and 2 cases were followed up 1 and 4 years respectively without tumor recurrence. The chest wall had good remodel ing. No loosening and exposure of titanium plate, difficulty in breathing, chest distress, and chest pain were observed during followup. Conclusion Surgical resection of sternal tumors will cause large chest wall defect which can be repaired by titanium plate and Teflon patch because it had the advantages of easy operation, satisfactory remodel ing, and less compl ication.
Objective To investigate the surgical techniques and effectiveness for reconstruction of severe full-thickness chest wall defects. Methods Between January 2006 and December 2010, 14 patients with full-thickness chest wall defects were treated, including 12 cases caused by giant chest wall mal ignant tumor excision, 1 case by thermocompression injury, and 1 case by radiation necrosis. There were 8 males and 6 females with an average age of 42 years (range，23-65 years). The size of chest wall defects ranged from 8 cm × 5 cm to 26 cm × 14 cm. All patients compl icated by rib defect (1-5 ribs), and 3 cases by sternum defect. Thoracic skeleton reconstruction was performed with Vicryl mesh or polytetrafluroethylene mesh in 10 patients. Other 4 patients did not undergo thoracic skeleton reconstruction. The bilobed skin flaps, pectoral is major myocutaneous flap, latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap, and rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap were util ized for repairing soft tissue defects. The size of the dissected flaps ranged from 10 cm × 7 cm to 25 cm × 13 cm. The donor sites were sutured directly or were repaired by free skin graft. Results Poor heal ing of incision occurred in 2 cases, which was cured after debridement, myocutaneous flap transfer, and skin graft. The other wounds healed by first intention. All patients were followed up 6-36 months (mean, 8 months). No tumor recurrence during follow-up, except 1 patient with osteosarcoma who died of l iver matastasis at 6 months after operation. Transient sl ight paradoxical respiration occurred in 1 patient who did not undergo thoracic skeleton reconstruction at 5 days after operation. Integrity of chest wall in other patients was restored without paradoxical respiration and dyspnea. Conclusion Depending on the cause, the size, and the location of defect, single or combination flaps could be used to repair soft tissue defect, and thoracic skeleton reconstruction should be performed when defect is severe by means of syntheticmaterials.
Objective To evaluate the biocompatibility and in vivo degradation of novel chest wall prosthesis materials and provide some data for their clinical application. MethodsAccording to the standard for the biological evaluation of the medical devices, several tests were performed to evaluate the tissue toxic effects induced by polydioxanone (Group A), chitosan (Group B), and hydroxyapitite/collagen (Group C),which were tested as component materials of the chest wall prosthesis. In the hemolysis test, 0.2 ml of the anticoagulant rabbit blood was added to the component materials and the normal saline (negative control) and to the distilled water(positive control). Five samples were made in each group. Absorbency was measured and the hemolysis rate was determined. In the acute systemic toxicity test, 20 mice were randomly divided into 4 groups (Groups A, B and C, and the normal saline group, n=5). The leaching liquid (50 ml/kg) was injected through the caudal vein, which was observed at 24, 48 and 72 hours. In the pyrogen test, 12 rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups (Groups A, B, C and the normal saline group, n=3) the leaching liquid(10 ml/kg) was injected through the ear vein,and the body temperature was recorded within 3 hours. In the in vivo degradable test, the component materials (10 mm×10 mm) were implanted in 12 rabbits at 2, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 24 weeks, respectively, after operation. Two rabbitswere sacrificed for the macroscopic and the microscopic examinations. Results The chest wall component materials had no hemolytic reaction, no acute systemic toxicity, and no pyrogen reaction. The results demonstrated that the implanted materials had only a mild inflammatory reaction during the early days of the grafting, which subsided gradually. There was no tissue denaturation, necrosis or pathological hyperplasia when the prosthesis materials were degraded. Conclusion The degradable materials of the chest wall prosthesis have a good biocompatibility and agreat biological safety though their surgical application still requires a further clinical research.
Objective To evaluate the results of chest wallreconstruction (CWR) in patients who underwent chest wall tumor resection accompanying huge chest wall defect. Methods From Jan. 1998 to Mar. 2003, 31 patients underwent CWR. Among them, 20 were male and 11 female. The age ranged from 8 to 72 years.The indications for resection were primary chest wall tumor in 21 patients, lung cancer with invasion of chest wall 6, recurrence of breast cancer 2, radiationnecrosis 1 and skin cancer 1. The number of rib resected was 2~7 ribs (3.6 in average). The defect was 20~220 cm2 (97.1 cm2 in average). Concomitant resectionwas done in 13 patients, including lobectomy or wedge resection of lung 10, partial resection of diaphragm 2, and partial sternectomy 1. Seven patients underwent soft tissue reconstruction alone(latissimus dorsi+greater omentum, latissimusdorsi myocutaneous flap, latissimus dorsi muscle flap), 5 patients bony reconstruction alone(Prolen web), and simultaneous BR and STR were performed in 19 patients(latissimus dorsi, pectorails major, latissimus dorsi+fascia lata, and Prolene web). Results Three patients (9.7%) developed postoperative complications. Postoperative survival period was 6~57 months with a median of 22 months. Conclusion A favorable clinical outcome can be achieved by CWR for the patients with hugechest wall defects that result from resection of chest wall tumors.
Surgical management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) invading chest wall is the combination of pulmonary resection, lymphadenectomy and chest wall resection and reconstruction. Hitherto the surgical procedures include combination of thoracotomy and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), thoracotomy, and VATS. The result of the surgery leads to a defect in the chest wall. Therefore, the requirements of the technique and material are relatively high with no consensual standard. This review describes the definitions, indications, materials, prognostic factors, and recent progress in surgical techniques.
Regardless of the cause of the chest wall defect, especially the extensive chest wall defect, if it cannot be effectively repaired and reconstructed, it may cause physiological and pathological changes such as chest wall softening, respiratory abnormalities and mediastinal oscillations. The main factors affecting the repair and reconstruction of the chest wall are the choice of reconstruction methods and materials. With the increasing understanding of chest wall defects, advances in reconstructive surgery techniques and the development of reconstructed materials, it has become possible to reconstruct many extensive chest wall defects that were previously impossible to complete. This article reviews the characteristics of chest wall defects, methods of repair, and current status and progress of reconstructed materials.
Objective To investigate the safety and efficacy of preoperative ultra-short-course chemotherapy combined with surgical treatment of chest wall tuberculosis. Methods The clinical data of 216 patients with chest wall tuberculosis from January 2013 to June 2016 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed, including 121 males and 95 females with an average age of 35±15 years (range, 4-74 years). Results All patients were treated with anti-tuberculosis drugs for 17.0±11.3 days preoperatively, including 12.5±5.0 days in simple chest wall tuberculosis and 19.4±12.3 days in combined chest wall tuberculosis. The postoperative recurrence rate of chest wall tuberculosis was 3.7%, which was close to or lower than that of routine preoperative antituberculous therapy in patients with ultra-short-course anti-tuberculosis treatment before surgery. Conclusion Preoperative ultra-short-course chemotherapy combined with surgical treatment for chest wall tuberculosis will not increase the recurrence rate of chest wall tuberculosis, and can effectively shorten the hospital stay. Timely adjustment of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy based on thorough debridement, postoperative drugs, not the preoperative drugs, is the key to reinforce the surgical outcome.
Chest wall tuberculosis is a common extra-pulmonary tuberculosis, which often occurs in lung or pleura tuberculosis, or coexists with tuberculosis in other parts. The final manifestation of the disease is cold abscess on the chest wall, chronic sinuses with repeated exudation after the abscess is broken. At present, There were a series of problems in the diagnosis, treatment, and extremely prognosis of tuberculosis of the chest wall. Therefore, we reviewed the diagnosis of chest wall tuberculosis, including B-ultrasound, chest CT and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), tuberculous infectin of T cells spot test (T-SPOT TB), pathological examination. The related treatments including medical treatment, surgical treatment and other local treatment in order to better understand the chest wall tuberculosis.
ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of surgical treatment on chest wall tuberculosis.MethodsA total of 407 patients with chest wall tuberculosis who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria from April 2008 to December 2017 in Chengdu Public Health Clinical Medical Center were enrolled. They were divided into two groups according to the time of admission: a control group (203 patients admitted from April 2008 to December 2012) treated with traditional focus debridement, including 135 males and 68 females, with an average age of 40.65±4.68 years, and an observation group (204 patients admitted from 2013 to 2017) undergoing complete focus debridement, including 139 males and 65 females, with an average age of 40.73±4.72 years. The general clinical data, perioperative related indexes, incision healing, incidence of complications and recurrence between the two groups were compared.ResultsThere was no significant difference in general clinical data, operation time, postoperative pain time, extubation time, hospital stay or recurrence rate between the two groups (P>0.05), but compared with the control group the grade A healing rate in the observation group was significantly higher and incidence of complications was significantly lower (P<0.05).ConclusionThorough debridement can achieve a better effect in the treatment of chest wall tuberculosis, and help to reduce complications and promote wound healing. It is suitable for clinical application.