Vascular thoracic outlet syndrome developed after minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum.

The Nuss procedure is a minimally invasive surgical repair technique for pectus excavatum with fewer delayed complications compared to open procedures. We report the case of a 22-year-old man with deep pectus excavatum who developed vascular thoracic outlet syndrome after the Nuss procedure. Further evaluation demonstrated that the first rib was causing severe obstruction of the right subclavian artery. The patient showed clinical features of subclavian artery compression. A first rib resection, division of the anterior scalene muscle and fibrous bands provided complete relief of the complaints. The forced structural and spatial changes produced by the elevation of the depressed upper chest might have caused this complication. Vascular thoracic outlet syndrome should be kept in mind as a possible complication in patients who have undergone minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum, and this complication can be treated by first rib resection.