Fundamentals of Chest Wall Reconstruction

For a chest wall reconstruction to be successful, it is required to understand the principles, relevant anatomy, and physiology of ventilation. This chapter provides an overview of these concepts, along with the importance of chest wall integrity. The principles of chest wall reconstruction and its indications will be presented, along with the management of defects commonly encountered in clinical practice. We will cover methods for achieving a structural reconstruction, along with the workhorse flaps used for these defects. Our approach to flap selection depending on defect location, along with the role of free flaps in chest wall reconstruction will be also presented.