This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages without signing in

Treatment

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The neurological symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome may be treated conservatively by physiotherapy to improve the muscles which elevate and support the upper limb girdle.

Structural abnormalities should be treated surgically if the vascular or neurological problems are severe. The precise operation will depend upon the abnormality present e.g. division of pectoralis minor tendon, resection of clavicle.

A symptomatic cervical rib may be treated by scalenectomy and / or removal of the accessory rib.

Unusually, a severely damaged section of the artery may have to be replaced by a graft. Afterwards, a chest X-ray should be performed to exclude a pneumothorax.

Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.