Rib Support

[nikd05]

My Father had CABG (Bypass) surgery in Feb 2015, his heart function has improved over time but as he is a diabetic he had pus cell formation in the chest stitch area, which eventually turned into osteomyelitis, he has had two debridement surgeries to remove the affected areas and in the recent one he had his 4 ribs removed, that makes it a total of 5 removed ribs. Does anyone have an idea what are the methods used to support the areas where the ribs have been removed? From what I know there is some kind of  a mesh. Does anyone have any idea about that and what will happen if no support is provided?

[caregiver222]

You might try contacting Dr. Steven Wolf at the U.S. Army Institute for Surgical Reasearch or thre University of Pittsburg Institute for Regenerative Medicine to inquire if there are any current clinical trials with small intestine pig mucosa to regenerate bone.

[caregiver222]

One protocol involves what is called "small Intestine Pig Mucosa" together with mesh. Discover magazine had a good article. The protocol was discovered in 1989 but is not fully approved. In tests it has restored the missing segments of rib.