A case report on a full-thickness chest wall reconstruction with polypropylene mesh and stainless steel mesh concurrently using a transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap.

A full-thickness chest wall resection requires subsequent chest wall reconstruction. A chest wall resection and reconstruction was performed using a transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap, together with polypropylene mesh (Marlex mesh) and stainless steel mesh (SSM). A 71-year-old man was diagnosed as having recurrent lung cancer in the chest wall, and underwent surgical resection. Marlex mesh was sutured to the posterior wall of the surgical defect. A portion of the SSM was adjusted to the size of the defect and cut out. Its edges were folded to make the portion into a plate. This SSM plate was placed anteriorly to the Marlex mesh and sutured to the ribs. The Marlex mesh was folded back on the SSM plate by 2 cm and fixed. After the above procedures, a left-sided TRAM flap was raised through a subcutaneous tunnel up to the defect and sutured to the region. The patient was discharged from hospital 19 days postoperatively. The wound was fine and he had no flail chest or dyspnea, and carcinomatous pain resolved.