Surgical Resection of Chest Wall Tuberculosis

Background: Chest wall tuberculosis is a rare disease. After reviewing cases previously treated by surgical resection, the methods of resection, results, perioperative complications, and recurrence of the disease were analyzed. Methods: The clinical and radiological data of 21 patients with chest wall tuberculosis treated between March 1998 and May 2007 were reviewed retrospectively. Results: Symptoms included growing chest wall mass, with the time intervals of surgical resection from symptoms ranging from one to eight months (mean 2.3 months). Fourteen patients had a past history of tuberculosis. Preoperative needle aspiration was performed in 10 patients. The lesion was confined to the chest wall without a pleural lesion in 4 patients; 14 patients had a chest wall lesion with a pleural space. Resection of the abscess without rib resection was performed in nine patients. Complete resection of the abscess together with soft tissue and the involved rib was performed in 12 patients. Recurrence occurred in two patients (9.5%): one underwent complete resection with rib resection while the other had resection without rib resection. Conclusion: Chest wall tuberculosis requires surgical resection in most cases and complete surgical resection may be needed to keep the recurrence rate low.