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Temple University Hospital
Originally Published: Modern Resident February/March '13
A 16-year-old female presented to a children's hospital emergency department with two weeks of intermittent left shoulder pain. Over the last few days, her left arm had become diffusely swollen and painful with mottling of the skin, coolness of her left hand and paresthesias on the lateral forearm. Exam revealed strong radial and brachial pulses with her arm dependent, and decreased pulses when she raised her arm. She was a competitive swimmer and practiced up to four hours per day and symptoms were worse after exercise.
Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is an uncommon condition with varying presentations and a constellation of signs and symptoms that make diagnosis very tricky. It is characterized by compression of the neurovascular bundle exiting the thoracic outlet, involving the subclavian artery, vein and Brachial plexus. Historically, it was categorized by the anatomic abnormality causing the compression, such as cervical or first rib, scalene muscle hypertrophy, costoclavicular and hyperabduction syndrome.
