Early Outcomes of the Bird-cage Chest Wall Reconstruction in the Philippine General Hospital

Objective. To describe the treatment outcomes of patients with chest wall tumors undergoing resection and Birdcage chest wall reconstruction in the local setting.

Methods. Data were obtained from 13 patients who underwent chest wall resection and Bird-cage (methylmethacrylate neo-rib, mesh, soft tissue, and skin) reconstruction in the Philippine General Hospital from January 2008 to September 2019. Demographics, operative procedures, 30-day operative morbidity, and mortality were evaluated using means and frequencies.

Results. We included 13 (77% female) patients with a mean age of 44.5 years. The most common indication for
chest wall resection was recurrent neoplasm (5/13, 38.46%). The most extensive chest wall defect was 600 cm2. The average length of ICU stay was 5.15 days, and two patients had prolonged intubation (>3 days). The graft infection rate was 38%, pneumonia 23%, and the operative mortality rate was zero.

Conclusion. Bird-cage reconstruction is a safe, reliable, and cheap method of providing rigid chest wall reconstruction for chest wall tumor resection.