Quote:
Originally Posted by Jo*mar
Hello & welcome parbie,
I don't know if such drastic surgical measures are always indicated, usually if the extra cervie ribs are present and removed, you may, or may not, need all those added procedures. That's why the various testing and multiple expert opinions are needed. And the skill & expertise of the surgeon when he gets eyes on, sometimes there are little surprises that just don't show up on any of the tests or imaging.
We have had a number of weightlifters with TOS joining this past year..
It is amazing when extra c ribs are getting missed with MRIs, but I guess if the order says to check c spine vertebrae for issues, or how ever the order is written, nobody looks any further... 
NeoVista MRI - Your extra c ribs are already found now, so I don't know if this extra step is really necessary. It may show other issues that need to be addressed, but I'm not that familiar with that MRI, so maybe others that looked into it will have more input on it.
I'll leave the thoracic vs vascular surgeon topic to those that have gone down that path. |
Thanks Jo*mar. I guess when I see more surgeons I can figure out what exact procedures I would need. However, one thing I def don't want is to do a surgery and have just a scalenectomy or just rib resection, and then have to come back months or years later for a second surgery because of a recurrence. I will copy paste what I read below indicating what could happen:
*edit* ( © 2009-2012 WUSM)
As for the MRI, it is a fairly newly developed MRI that is "the most effective imaging modality to confirm the diagnosis of TOS". However, I guess you are right in that my cervical ribs have been found through a CT scan and the scalene block should be enough to confirm the diagnosis. However, the reason I am skeptical about the scalene block being a confirmation, is that I had a medial branch nerve block a few months ago (on my neck) when I had been misdiagnosed with cervical facet syndrome. The block gave me relief. However, once I had the ablation done (to burn the nerves), I did not feel any better.