TECHNICAL NOTES  THORACIC SECTION 

The Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery 2001 August;42(4):569-70

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

The Rumel technique for lateral thoracotomy closure

Barone G. W., Pait T. G., Lightfoot M. L., Ketel B. L.

From the Department of Surgery *Department of Neurosurgery University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

The clo­sure of ­the com­mon­ly ­used lat­er­al thor­a­cot­o­my inci­sion usu­al­ly ­includes per­i­cos­tal ­sutures ­which encir­cle ­the ­ribs. Risks of ­these per­i­cos­tal ­sutures ­include ­the inju­ry ­and/or ­the entrap­ment of ­the inter­cos­tal neu­ro­vas­cu­lar bun­dle locat­ed ­along ­the infe­ri­or under­edge of ­each ­rib. The sim­ple adap­ta­tion of ­the Rumel tour­ni­quet tech­nique is ­described as an ­aid ­for ­the pri­mary clo­sure of a lat­er­al thor­a­cot­o­my ­which ­may ­avoid ­some of ­the poten­tial com­pli­ca­tions inher­ent to thor­a­cot­o­my inci­sions.