The first description of a compression syndrome of the brachial plexus was by Sir Astley Cooper in 1817, that of the cervical rib syndrome in 1861 by Coote et al., that of compression of the 1st rib by Murphy et al. in 1910, the scalenus anticus syndrome described in 1935 by Ochsner et al., the costoclavicular compression syndrome Falconer et al. in 1943.
It was not until 1956 that Peet recognized the similarity of symptoms and grouped them together as the generic term "thoracic outlet syndrome" (König 2008).
The first surgical resection of a cervical rib for neurovascular symptoms was performed by Coote as early as 1861. Resection by the transaxillary route was published by Roos in 1966, and this procedure gained special importance until the mid-1970s because of its good results. A supraclavicular resection procedure was described by Murphy et al. in 1980. In the meantime, endoscopic procedures have also been described (Bürger 2014).