A Study of the Morbidity Involved in Whole Rib Harvesting and In Situ Splitting Rib Harvesting Surgery.

Background: Although there have been several reports that detail the in situ rib splitting harvesting surgical procedure, there are limited published studies evaluating this procedure and the traditional whole rib harvesting approach. In this study, the authors conducted a retrospective controlled study on the complications related to the 2 rib harvesting approaches.

Methods: From March 2012 to May 2014, 24 patients were treated with rib grating, of whom 9 patients received conventional rib harvesting surgery and 15 patients received in situ splitting harvesting surgery. In all patients, a 3-dimensional computed tomography study of the chest was performed 7 days postoperatively. Postoperative complications were assessed and postoperative pain was assessed using a visual analog scale after the first 24, 48, and 72 hours after the surgery.

Results: The complication rate for in situ splitting rib harvesting was 6.67% versus 44.44% for patients treated with whole rib grafting surgery. After 48 and 72 hours, the visual analog scale scores in patients treated with in situ splitting rib grafts were significantly lower than the patients treated with traditional surgery.

Conclusion: The in situ splitting approach for obtaining a rib results in a clinically significant reduction in complications compared with the traditional approach.