Breast pain and the thoracic outlet compression syndrome

Abstract

Mastalgia is a common symptom presenting both to general practitioners and surgeons. The breast pain which may radiate down the arms can vary from mild intensity to occasionally severe pain affecting the patient's lifestyle and sexual relationships. Non-cyclical mastalgia can be difficult to treat. Neurovascular compression at the thoracic outlet has not been recognised as a cause of this condition. We present five cases where severe mastalgia was relieved by surgical treatment of thoracic outlet compression syndrome (TOCS).