Thoracic Outlet Syndrome surgery

[4 girl's dad]

DD (2024) had TOS surgery October 7 and had spent a few days in the hospital to recover. She has been going to therapy since week 2 and the drs said she is doing very well as is strong already. She was about to start throwing next week at therapy but she got strep and tested positive for covid 10 days ago she she has been quarantined at home. She’s doing well with all of that now. Just really tired still.

She starts HS ball in Jan so we are hopeful she will be ready to start those workouts at that time.

I wanted to post this to make sure people are aware of this issue. She had been dealing with some pains since sept of 19 and we initially thought it was a throwing injury as it started after a warm up that ended with long toss. She said she felt a pop so we assumed it was from that. Later that year she was also injured in a basketball game and had some treatments for that but again, never considered TOS. She had a lot of time off from throwing due to Covid in the spring and once they started practicing/playing in May, she was still having some issues and pain. In June we played 5 straight weekends and she started every game but I could see her pain and her throws were getting weaker from ss to 1B. During the 4th weekends games she had to sit out the last two games due to swelling, pain and numbness. She did play all of the last tourney even though she was hurting but we were told it was rotator cuff or labrum tear and wouldn’t cause any additional damage. During all of this, we had seen 3 different drs and had two MRI’s that all showed clear except for a minor tear that they said would not be noticeable if they hadn’t done the contrast MRI.

She finally got some answers when we asked for a referral to another sports med specialist in town. That dr then sent us to dr Pearl in Dallas and he was certain immediately that it was TOS and scheduled surgery.


So here we are now waiting to get to the point of playing again, which shouldn’t be long now.

I write all of this as a warning/education of what can happen. Dr Pearl said that it’s becoming more common, especially in girls due to the amount of activity and reps they do in all sports. DD’s other sport is VB and since it is also an overhand sport, it probably contributed as well. He also stated it’s common for gymnast and competitive cheer.

We did have a board member who’s daughter passed away during her second surgery so it’s not like a torn ligament. We had a vascular, neurologist and orthopedic all in the surgery. It’s pretty intense but the results are also very positive in most cases.

DD wanted to keep her rib. Here is what they took out, along with two stabilizer muscles.

 

[radness]

DD (2024) had TOS surgery October 7 and had spent a few days in the hospital to recover. She has been going to therapy since week 2 and the drs said she is doing very well as is strong already. She was about to start throwing next week at therapy but she got strep and tested positive for covid 10 days ago she she has been quarantined at home. She’s doing well with all of that now. Just really tired still.

She starts HS ball in Jan so we are hopeful she will be ready to start those workouts at that time.

I wanted to post this to make sure people are aware of this issue. She had been dealing with some pains since sept of 19 and we initially thought it was a throwing injury as it started after a warm up that ended with long toss. She said she felt a pop so we assumed it was from that. Later that year she was also injured in a basketball game and had some treatments for that but again, never considered TOS. She had a lot of time off from throwing due to Covid in the spring and once they started practicing/playing in May, she was still having some issues and pain. In June we played 5 straight weekends and she started every game but I could see her pain and her throws were getting weaker from ss to 1B. During the 4th weekends games she had to sit out the last two games due to swelling, pain and numbness. She did play all of the last tourney even though she was hurting but we were told it was rotator cuff or labrum tear and wouldn’t cause any additional damage. During all of this, we had seen 3 different drs and had two MRI’s that all showed clear except for a minor tear that they said would not be noticeable if they hadn’t done the contrast MRI.

She finally got some answers when we asked for a referral to another sports med specialist in town. That dr then sent us to dr Pearl in Dallas and he was certain immediately that it was TOS and scheduled surgery.


So here we are now waiting to get to the point of playing again, which shouldn’t be long now.

I write all of this as a warning/education of what can happen. Dr Pearl said that it’s becoming more common, especially in girls due to the amount of activity and reps they do in all sports. DD’s other sport is VB and since it is also an overhand sport, it probably contributed as well. He also stated it’s common for gymnast and competitive cheer.

We did have a board member who’s daughter passed away during her second surgery so it’s not like a torn ligament. We had a vascular, neurologist and orthopedic all in the surgery. It’s pretty intense but the results are also very positive in most cases.

DD wanted to keep her rib. Here is what they took out, along with two stabilizer muscles.

Amazing! Speedy recovery to her!

 

[texasheat]

DD (2024) had TOS surgery October 7 and had spent a few days in the hospital to recover. She has been going to therapy since week 2 and the drs said she is doing very well as is strong already. She was about to start throwing next week at therapy but she got strep and tested positive for covid 10 days ago she she has been quarantined at home. She’s doing well with all of that now. Just really tired still.

She starts HS ball in Jan so we are hopeful she will be ready to start those workouts at that time.

I wanted to post this to make sure people are aware of this issue. She had been dealing with some pains since sept of 19 and we initially thought it was a throwing injury as it started after a warm up that ended with long toss. She said she felt a pop so we assumed it was from that. Later that year she was also injured in a basketball game and had some treatments for that but again, never considered TOS. She had a lot of time off from throwing due to Covid in the spring and once they started practicing/playing in May, she was still having some issues and pain. In June we played 5 straight weekends and she started every game but I could see her pain and her throws were getting weaker from ss to 1B. During the 4th weekends games she had to sit out the last two games due to swelling, pain and numbness. She did play all of the last tourney even though she was hurting but we were told it was rotator cuff or labrum tear and wouldn’t cause any additional damage. During all of this, we had seen 3 different drs and had two MRI’s that all showed clear except for a minor tear that they said would not be noticeable if they hadn’t done the contrast MRI.

She finally got some answers when we asked for a referral to another sports med specialist in town. That dr then sent us to dr Pearl in Dallas and he was certain immediately that it was TOS and scheduled surgery.


So here we are now waiting to get to the point of playing again, which shouldn’t be long now.

I write all of this as a warning/education of what can happen. Dr Pearl said that it’s becoming more common, especially in girls due to the amount of activity and reps they do in all sports. DD’s other sport is VB and since it is also an overhand sport, it probably contributed as well. He also stated it’s common for gymnast and competitive cheer.

We did have a board member who’s daughter passed away during her second surgery so it’s not like a torn ligament. We had a vascular, neurologist and orthopedic all in the surgery. It’s pretty intense but the results are also very positive in most cases.

DD wanted to keep her rib. Here is what they took out, along with two stabilizer muscles.

Prayers for a complete recovery.

 

[Fury_Mike]

Can you briefly explain what TOS is?

 

[Top_Notch]

I'm assuming we are looking at her first rib and not a chicken bone you had for dinner.

Fury Mike, (TOS) is a condition in which there is compression of the nerves, arteries, or veins in a passageway from the lower neck to armpit. There are a myriad of types, resulting in a myriad of symptoms, from, you guessed it, a myriad of causes. One cause however, is repetitive arm use.

One way to relieve the compression is to remove the first rib, fibrous tissue, and in some cases a cervical rib (basically an extra rib via congenital abnormality, which is rare <1%) This allows increased blood flow and the reduction of nerve compression.

 

[Martino]

DD (2024) had TOS surgery October 7 and had spent a few days in the hospital to recover. She has been going to therapy since week 2 and the drs said she is doing very well as is strong already. She was about to start throwing next week at therapy but she got strep and tested positive for covid 10 days ago she she has been quarantined at home. She’s doing well with all of that now. Just really tired still.

She starts HS ball in Jan so we are hopeful she will be ready to start those workouts at that time.

I wanted to post this to make sure people are aware of this issue. She had been dealing with some pains since sept of 19 and we initially thought it was a throwing injury as it started after a warm up that ended with long toss. She said she felt a pop so we assumed it was from that. Later that year she was also injured in a basketball game and had some treatments for that but again, never considered TOS. She had a lot of time off from throwing due to Covid in the spring and once they started practicing/playing in May, she was still having some issues and pain. In June we played 5 straight weekends and she started every game but I could see her pain and her throws were getting weaker from ss to 1B. During the 4th weekends games she had to sit out the last two games due to swelling, pain and numbness. She did play all of the last tourney even though she was hurting but we were told it was rotator cuff or labrum tear and wouldn’t cause any additional damage. During all of this, we had seen 3 different drs and had two MRI’s that all showed clear except for a minor tear that they said would not be noticeable if they hadn’t done the contrast MRI.

She finally got some answers when we asked for a referral to another sports med specialist in town. That dr then sent us to dr Pearl in Dallas and he was certain immediately that it was TOS and scheduled surgery.


So here we are now waiting to get to the point of playing again, which shouldn’t be long now.

I write all of this as a warning/education of what can happen. Dr Pearl said that it’s becoming more common, especially in girls due to the amount of activity and reps they do in all sports. DD’s other sport is VB and since it is also an overhand sport, it probably contributed as well. He also stated it’s common for gymnast and competitive cheer.

We did have a board member who’s daughter passed away during her second surgery so it’s not like a torn ligament. We had a vascular, neurologist and orthopedic all in the surgery. It’s pretty intense but the results are also very positive in most cases.

DD wanted to keep her rib. Here is what they took out, along with two stabilizer muscles.

Hi. Just coming across your TOS post. Do you mind me ask if your daughter had any of the usual symptoms related to down her arms ?? My daughter has been diagnosed with the extra cervical ribs , but none of the “ usual “ issues with numbness , tingling , weakness down the arms. All of her pain has been in her scapula / upper spine / trap area. Started 2 septembers ago. She pitched and played third. Was playing for a new team 2 Septembers ago , pitched the first 2 games of the fall season on way to game 3 she tells me she can’t pitch as it hurt to make pitching motion. Said pain was minor / tolerable to throw over hand. Took her one Ortho who called it a pinched nerve had her do about 5/6 months of PT that did nothing. She then managed to play through the pain in school ball last spring ( plays third and OF doesn’t pitch for school only her travel team ). But by time she got to travel it got progressively worse. Couldnt throw overhand at all so they moved her to first base. Then it started to bother her during her swing to the point her coach said just bunt everytime. Then it after weeks of just bunting limited her throws to almost nothing the simple motion of pumping her arms running caused pain to to the point of tears. She’s now on her 2nd local Ortho ( 3 if you want to count they moved her from one dr in the practice to another ) her second PT and second chiro. They both mention TOS yet at the same time tell me they don’t think it’s actual TOS despite the extra ribs based on her lack down the arm issues / symptoms so I was curious if your daughter had actual arms symptoms making it an easier TOS diagnosis.