Surgical excision of rib mass in seven patients

MO An-sheng; CHEN Kai; LAI Xiao-yu

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2095-252X.2025.02.007

Abstract：Objective To summarize the experience of surgical treatment of seven patients with rib mass.Methods This study was a retrospective study,including 7 patients between January 2021 and July 2023.Among them,there were 3 males and 4 females.The masses were located in the middle anterior segment of the left fourth rib in one case,the middle segment of the left third rib in one case,the anterior segment of the right seventh rib in two cases,the anterior segment of the right third rib in one case,the anterior segment of the right second and third ribs in one case,and the anterior segment of the right fourth rib in one case.Results All the surgeries went successfully.The average age of patients was(34.86±16.77)years(range:12-59 years).Among the seven patients,one patient with chondrosarcoma underwent open surgery and chest wall reconstruction,two patients underwent thoracoscopic-assisted surgery,and the remaining four patients underwent full-thoracoscopic surgery(one of the patients was treated with a combined approach of transxiphoid and transintercostal approach).The average length of the mass was(54.20±17.15)mm(range:27-74 mm)and the average transverse diameter was(32.06±17.71)mm(range:10-67 mm)respectively.There were 3 patients with both the length and transverse diameter of the mass≤5 cm.Postoperative pathologic diagnosis indicated fibrous dysplasia in two cases(benign),osteochondroma in two cases(benign),nonossifying fibroma in one case(benign),langerhans cell histiocytosis in one case(benign)and chondrosarcoma in one case(malignancy).No complication was observed and all recovered smoothly except Case 3 with a slight depression in the right anterior chest wall,and Case 4 with chronic pain at the rib resection site(the pain disappeared after three topical analgesics).Conclusions Open surgical resection is recommended for rib malignant lesions.Lumpectomy or open surgery should be decided according to the size,sex and location of the lesion.