Fig. 2

a Serous pleural effusion in the thoracic cavity. b White purulent effusion when dissecting the strong adhesion between the eighth thoracic vertebra and lung parenchyma. c Schema of wound and rib harvesting. A seventh rib was excised 5 cm along the red dotted line. d, e, f Debridement of the eighth thoracic vertebra and an anterior fixation by grafting a harvested rib were performed. Anterior fixation was achieved by only filling the harvested and crushed ribs into the debrided vertebral space. g Findings of the eighth thoracic vertebra after anterior fixation (white arrows). h Schema of grafting the harvested rib