Our son had a tumour removed from his chest in Feb 04 and with it 6 ribs. He was referred to a spinal orthopaedic surgeon in case of problems, which over the course of time have developed. He now has severe rounded scoliosis where the spine has not only badly curved but badly twisted too. He is due to have spinal surgery although it isn't clear as yet what the procedure will be, apart from putting in permanent rods. We have asked if it is possible to replace his missing ribs artificially, but the surgeons say they don't think it is a done thing. We just want to know if anyone has any knowledge of ribs being rebuilt.
Thank you.

Hello, I am sorry to hear about your son. I was on FDA website awhile ago for work and saw that they had approved a prosthetic titanium rib. I just went back to read it and it is only approved for something called Thoracic Insufficency Syndrome(TIS) in pediatric patients. So, I don't know if that would apply. Anyone can go on the FDA site and check out new approvals, recalls, etc. The consumer site is informational.
Hope you find some real answers though, for your son, and lots of people here have quite a bit of knowledge & info. Best wishes to you & our son.

parker,
I would suggest looking into clinical trials for rib disease/replacement. I have participated in one at NIH over the last several years. They are so far advanced compared to the reg. ortho. in our local area (including the ones at a teaching hospital).
Let us know if you learn anything.
hrtofluv