What are the differences in surgery/risk with a cervical rib resection and 1st rib resection if any?

This is a tough question, I'm assuming an expert surgeon doing the surgery..

I think depending on the severity of all symptoms, some surgeons may remove both of those ribs and /or snip some scalenes also.
Most prefer many tests before doing surgery. Unless clots are an active issue.


The main difference that I have read, is if only the extra c ribs are the issue, then a very good outlook for post op & long term recovery.

Logically those aren't supposed to be there so removal is a good thing..less crowding and more room for needed structures.

Thank you for your reply!

From what I have read I have found that TOS with the c ribs is extremely rare. Therefore, I have had a difficult time finding people who have their cervical ribs removed vs. their first ribs removed.

In my case I did have blood clots in my brachial, radial, and ulner artery, the doctor was able to remove all of them but the ones in the ulner artery. Other than that I have not had any other issues besides a little bit of numbness and tingling in my hands when I sleep (for which I feel lucky after reading what a lot of other people with TOS have to deal with). I am still terrified of surgery, but know it is something that I am going to deal with.

Thanks again for responding to my post, it feels good knowing that there are people out there to talk to who understand.

I am worried about this issue too with extra c7 ribs. I don't know what the risk is, and have been told that arterial dissection could be an issue. But I really don't want to have the surgery due to my career as a singer. My pain is not too bad like you.

Can you tell me more about your clot situation.
Many thanks,
Anna

Like you said we both aren't dealing with much pain, however, from what I am told and read, depending how bad the compression is you may develop blood clots as I did. Furthermore, you could be damaging arteries, viens, and nerves. Therefore, even if you don't have much pain, I am told that if you have the cervical ribs as we do, surgery is typically required to prevent further damage. I am also told that the less severe your sypmtoms, and the smaller amount of time between diagnosis and surgery, the outcome is typically more positive. Mind you, this is only what I have been told by other people on support groups like this one. I just was just diagnosed with TOS recently, so my knowledge on it is still relatively minimal. Someone on here recommended I join the TOS FB support group which is a great support and resource group.

Anyways, here is my first post on here and my situation. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.

Hello,

I am a 33 year old male who recently went to the ER due to my hand tingling, going numb, and turning white. After a ultrasound and CT scan I was informed that I had blood clots in my radial, ulner, and brachial arteries. Furthermore, the doctor explained to me that I have extra ribs coming off of my 7th vertebrae and that I have a condition called Thoracic Outlet syndrome which most likely caused my blood clots due to my cervical rib and clavical pinching my subclavian artery. Needless to say I was in shock! Besides the blood clots the only other TOS symptoms I have ever experienced were my hands going numb and tingling at night when I sleep. Within that same visit a couple of weeks ago, I ended up having surgery (mind you, after they tried TPA two nights in a row which failed to break the clots up) to remove the blood clots from me radial and and brachial arteries in my left arm, however, the doc said that the clots in my artery were grown to the artery wall. I am now on now on warfarin to prevent the formation of any more blood clots until I have surgery to remove the extra ribs. This is very dishearting due to the fact that I am an extremely active person who snowboards, plays basketball, lifts weights, rock climbs, etc. The thought of being on warfarin the rest of my life scares the crap out of me. I have become extremely anxious, freaked out, and somewhat depressed about this whole situation. I obviously would like to have this surgery done asap if there is no other way for me to live my life how I like. Therefore, I was wondering if anyone on here knows of a good TOS doctor in Northern California. I live in Sacramento, but would be willing to travel a little bit if that meant having a more experienced and competent surgeon. I have been reading posts on this site for a couple of days, and I feel that many of the people on here are very supportive and understanding of each others' circumstances which has helped me a little bit with my anxiety about my own situation hence the reason I am now posting. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Yes, great to know there are more of us out there. I am particularly terrified of surgery. I just don't want to mess with the muscles involved in my singing. I have a feeling that it will have to happen though. Chiro is really helping at the moment, but I am still numb, tingly,dropsy, grumpy and daily affected. Luckily I only have really bad pain about once a week. I am also looking into hormonal changes and tracking symptoms.

Good luck with it all, and stay in touch.
Best wishes,
Anna