[Resection of the first rib for the upper thoracic outlet syndrome-- long-term experience]

The authors describe their own experience with the surgical treatment of the upper thoracic aperture syndrome-TOS-during the period of 14 years. During this period on account of this diagnosis at the Surgical Clinic in Brno 112 patients were operated, whereby the resection of the first rib was always done by the transaxillary approach. The authors describe in detail the symptomatology, diagnosis and surgical treatment. They emphasize the advantages of the transaxillary approach. In the conclusion the authors discuss the fact that only in 45% of the operated patients the symptoms disappeared. This leads to reflections on more strict criteria for the surgical treatment of this syndrome.