Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 26, 2025; 13(24): 107384
Published online Aug 26, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i24.107384
Minimally invasive surgical approach for slipping rib syndrome: A case report
Francesca Spinelli, Francesco Petrella, Andrea Cara, Enrico Cassina, Lidia Libretti, Emanuele Pirondini, Matilde De Simone, Ugo Cioffi, Antonio Tuoro, Gerardo Cioffi, Federico Raveglia
Francesca Spinelli, Andrea Cara, Enrico Cassina, Lidia Libretti, Emanuele Pirondini, Antonio Tuoro, Federico Raveglia, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza 20900, Italy
Francesco Petrella, Department of Thoracic Surgery, IRCCS-San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza 20900, Lombardy, Italy
Matilde De Simone, Department of Surgery, IRCCS, University of Milan, Milano 20100, Italy
Ugo Cioffi, Department of Surgery, University of Milan, Milan 20122, Italy
Gerardo Cioffi, Department of Sciences and Technologies, UniSannio, Benevento 82100, Campania, Italy
Co-first authors: Francesca Spinelli and Federico Raveglia.
Author contributions: Spinelli F and Cioffi U contributed to write the paper; Petrella F contributed to drafting manuscripts; Cara A contributed to collect, the literature; Cassina E contributed to analyze the literature; Libretti L contributed to collect and summarize the literature; Pirondini E, De Simone M, and Tuoro A contributed to collect, analyze, and summarize the literature; Cioffi G contributed to original draft preparation, writing, and review; Raveglia F contributed to conceptualization, supervision and wrote the paper, designed research.
Informed consent statement: All study participants provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ugo Cioffi, Department of Surgery, University of Milan, Via festa del Perdono 7, 20122, Milan, Italy. ugocioffi5@gmail.com
Received: March 24, 2025
Revised: April 17, 2025
Accepted: May 13, 2025
Published online: August 26, 2025
Processing time: 86 Days and 13.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Slipping rib syndrome (SRS) remains underdiagnosed due to its nonspecific presentation and lack of definitive diagnostic tools. Traditional surgical treatment involves complete rib resection, but minimally invasive approaches with rib preservation are emerging as effective alternatives. This case report presents a novel hybrid technique that combines cartilaginous resection and rib stabilization, resulting in significant pain reduction and functional improvement. Our findings highlight the importance of tailored surgical strategies, minimizing postoperative complications and optimizing patient outcomes, thus offering a viable alternative for refractory SRS cases.