Diagnostic and Therapeutic Management of the Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Review of the Literature and Report of an Italian Experience
Giuseppe Camporese, Enrico Bernardi, Andrea Venturin, Alice Pellizzaro, Alessandra Schiavon, Francesca Caneva, Alessandro Strullato, Daniele Toninato, Beatrice Forcato, Andrea Zuin, Francesco Squizzato, Michele Piazza, Roberto Stramare, Chiara Tonello, Pierpaolo Di Micco, Stefano Masiero, Federico Rea, Franco Grego, Paolo Simioni
Abstract
The Thoracic Outlet Syndrome is a clinical potentially disabling condition characterized by a group of upper extremity signs and symptoms due to the compression of the neurovascular bundle passing through the thoracic outlet region. Because of the non-specific nature of signs and symptoms, to the lack of a consensus for the objective diagnosis, and to the wide range of etiologies, the actual figure is still a matter of debate among experts. We aimed to summarize the current evidence about the pathophysiology, the diagnosis and the treatment of the thoracic outlet syndrome, and to report a retrospective analysis on 324 patients followed for 5 years at the Padua University Hospital and at the Naples Fatebenefratelli Hospital in Italy, to verify the effectiveness of a specific rehabilitation program for the syndrome and to evaluate if physical therapy could relieve symptoms in these patients.