Techniques de réparation de la paroi thoracique

The treatment of chest wall tumours is primarily based on surgery. Except for the rare cases of pseudo-tumours and “medical tumours”, surgical treatment is the main common perspective in this heterogeneous group. Chest wall surgery has long been considered as associated with very bad prognosis. These considerations have changed. Surgical procedures have become safe and effective. They do not inflect anymore the prognosis by themselves provided basic principles are respected. A detailed preoperative assessment has to be performed. It widely contributes to the development of an operative strategy. Afterwards, resection and wall reconstruction constitute an essential two-part surgical procedure. The main difficulty is to combine the demands of a complete resection and a good reconstruction which preserves the respiratory function.