Cervical rib, case series from a university hospital of Nepal

Cervical rib is a rare anatomical anomaly with an incidence of 0.2%-1% and is an important cause of thoracic outlet syndrome. We present a case series of five female patients with a mean age of 20.6 (15-26) years, symptoms present were neck pain, neck mass, tingling sensation and weakness in the affected side. Symptoms develop in adolescence probably due to sagging of the shoulders and a disproportion between chest and neck growth at this age. X-rays of cervical spine was a common mode of diagnosis and showed bilateral cervical rib in three cases and unilateral in two cases. They were managed by performing surgeries under supraclavicular approach with resection of cervical rib of affected side. There was improvement of symptoms with restoration of limb function with a mean time of recovery of 9 weeks. Early diagnosis is important as differential diagnosis of such symptoms may be cervical stenosis and myelopathy which differ in management and have a greater risk of morbidity. In absence of intervention, cervical ribs can lead to compression of neurovascular structures leading to worsening of symptoms, thrombosis of subclavian artery or cerebral emboli.