Prior to surgery, please research crps and the risks of rib removal. I had mine removed and now deal with crps. For me, the pain is worse than when I had venous tos. Also there is a large failure rate due to adhesions etc. my arm still goes numb when I lift it and I can feel the scar tissue pulling in my underarm. My docs won't touch it until they have to because of my crps. Make sure your doc knows what crps is! There are steps that can be taken pre op and post op tp try and prevent it.