Minimally Invasive Chest Wall Resection: Sparing the Overlying, Uninvolved Extrathoracic Musculature of the Chest

Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that invades the chest wall are often thought not to benefit from minimally invasive surgery. Frequently, open techniques involve cutting noninvolved extrathoracic muscles that lie over the cancer to gain access to resect the ribs that contain malignancy. We reviewed a new technique involving 21 patients that eliminates cutting of the extrathoracic (trapezius, rhomboids, serratus anterior) muscles. Ribs with invading cancer are resected from inside of the chest instead of cutting the uninvolved muscles over them. The approach used can be a thoracotomy, robotic, or video-assisted technique.