Efficacy of intensive, hospital-based rehabilitation in cases of thoracic outlet syndrome that failed to respond to private-practice physiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Rehabilitation is currently the preferred first-line treatment for thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS). When physiotherapy fails, the next treatment option is usually surgery - a complex procedure with potential complications. OBJECTIVE: We sought to establish whether an intensive, multidisciplinary, day-hospital-based rehabilitation programme could reduce the symptoms of TOS after the failure of private-practice physiotherapy and before surgery was considered. METHODS: We performed a retrospective, single-centre study of 63 TOS patients admitted to our day hospital for 3 weeks (15 therapy sessions) between 2003 and 2014. The data were extracted from hospital records or gathered in a phone interview. RESULTS: Immediately after discharge, the observed improvements in hand function were related to lifting a load, reaching a high shelf, sweeping the floor, cleaning windows, and combing hair. Three months after the end of the intensive rehabilitation program, 80% of the patients reported a reduction in their symptoms. Forty-one of the 63 patients were subsequently contacted by phone. The mean time interval between the end of the rehabilitation programme and the phone interview was 4.5 years (median: 3.5 years; range: 1-12 years). Twenty-seven patients (66%) reported a worsening in hand function, and 25% had undergone surgery. Twenty-three patients had kept the same job, 7 had changed jobs after retraining, 4 had stopped working before the programme but were able to return to work afterwards (including one patient in a part-time job), 4 had not returned to work, and 3 received disability benefits. CONCLUSION: An intensive, multidisciplinary, hospital-based rehabilitation programme was associated with improvements in the great majority of patients with TOS - even after private-practice physiotherapy had failed.