Thoracoplasty

Thoracoplasty is a surgical operation of removing or resecting one or more ribs.

Scoliosis is a condition that involves complex lateral and rotational curvature and deformity of the spine. The rib cage rotating along with the spine creates a rib hump. The rib cages will appear at different heights.
The rib hump can be corrected to some degree by a spinal surgery and the remaining deformity can be corrected by thoracoplasty.
Thoracoplasty involves the surgical removal (resection) of rib segments.
This involves shortening certain ribs in the thoracic or chest area. Thus shortened rib will be as strong as the original rib after the healing.
Can be done as thoracotomy (open) or endoscopically.
When Thoracoplasty surgery performed at the same time as spinal surgery, thoracoplasty surgery can be excellent source of bone, for the bone graft (autograft) required for spinal fusion. Usually this does not prolong the patient's recovery period.

Symptoms:

• Uneven musculature on one side of the spine
• Uneven hip and shoulder levels
• Asymmetric size/location of breast in females
• Unequal distance between body and arms

Treatments:

• Boston brace
  It is brace made of molded plastic and generally worn under clothing.
• Milwaukee brace
  It is a correctional back/body brace to correct for scoliosis and other congenital spine deformities and a modern and effective treatment for moderate to severe scoliosis.
• Charleston brace
  It is worn during sleeping and is typically molded to a patient bent to the side, which increases the pressure on the curvature.
• SpineCor brace
  It is worn most hours in a day and is flexible and allows freedom of movement and less noticeable under the clothing. Treatment range of the brace is the Cobb angle of between 15 and 50 degrees.

Surgery is generally for the curves that have a high chance of progression:

• curves that cause a significant amount of pain with some regularity
• curves that would be cosmetically unacceptable as an adult
• curves in patients with spina bifida and cerebral palsy that interfere with sitting and care
• curves that affect physiological functions such as breathing

Spinal fusion is one of the surgery for scoliosis. In spinal fusion, bone (autograft or allograft) is grafted to the vertebrae so that when it heals, they will form one solid bone mass and the vertebral column becomes rigid. This can be performed from the anterior or by entering thoracic or abdominal cavity or posterior.
This prevents worsening of the curve at the expense of spinal movement.