RT Journal
A1 FONKALSRUD EW
T1 'railroad track' operation-reply
JF Archives of Surgery
JO Archives of Surgery
YR 1979
FD September 1
VO 114
IS 9
SP 1092
OP 1092
DO 10.1001/archsurg.1979.01370330113026
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.1979.01370330113026
AB In Reply.—I and my coauthors appreciate Dr Brantigan's calling our attention to the article by his father describing the technique of fixing the lower sternum after osteotomy by attaching the seventh costal cartilage to the adjacent fifth rib. This technique may have particular application in adolescent or adult patients who have a longer segment of sternum below the osteotomy and who require some form of rigid fixation. The retrosternal periosteal attachment described in our article is most easily applied to young children who have a relatively short sternum.