Too surgical a problem
For general medicine to take on directly.
Your surgeonConsultant thoracic surgeon at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and one of a small number of UK surgeons who treat the chest wall as a speciality in its own right rather than as an afterthought to lung surgery.
For general medicine to take on directly.
Outside routine general surgical practice.
Bone and joint surgery stops short of the chest wall itself.
Often with no structured follow-up plan.
Rib and chest wall injuries fall into a gap. A patient with six broken ribs is often discharged from A&E with painkillers and no follow-up. A patient with slipping rib syndrome is told the scans are normal and sent to physiotherapy, sometimes for years.
Mr Scarci has spent more than two decades on the other side of that gap — applying the anatomy he knows best deliberately to injury and pain, rather than treating it as the route to the lung.
“Nobody sets out to specialise in ribs. You end up here because you keep meeting patients whom everyone else has run out of ideas for — and you realise the problem was never that the condition was untreatable. It was that nobody had examined them properly.”
Mr Marco ScarciTitanium plating (ORIF/SSRF) for multiple fractures, flail chest, displaced ribs and fractures that never healed, together with the nerve blocks and cryoablation that make recovery bearable.
Diagnosis by examination rather than imaging, and costal cartilage resection where the mechanical problem needs correcting rather than managing.
Costochondritis, xiphoid syndrome, intercostal neuralgia and post-surgical nerve pain — a structured diagnostic pathway rather than another repeat scan.
Resection and reconstruction for tumours and complex defects, mesh repair of chest wall hernia, and excision of lumps requiring biopsy.
Pectus excavatum and carinatum in teenagers and adults, from vacuum bell therapy and bracing through to the Nuss procedure.
An established medicolegal practice, with reports written to CPR Part 35 standard for solicitors handling chest and rib injury claims.
Scans reviewed in advance, examined in person, and the same surgeon from first consultation through to recovery.
★★★★★“I had rib pain for 6 years, was bounced around NHS without diagnosis at my wits end. I was recommended to Mr Scarci — at consultation within minutes he knew what the problem was: slipping rib syndrome. 2 weeks post surgery I am almost back to full health.”
★★★★★“My local hospital said it was inoperable due to the size of the mass. Mr Scarci reassured me the tumour was resectable. I was booked for surgery the following week where he successfully removed it entirely.”
★★★★★“You will simply not find a cardiothoracic surgeon with the same depth and breadth of knowledge as Mr Marco Scarci. I am travelling to him from the United States despite being affiliated with Johns Hopkins.”
Growing up in central Italy and inspired by an uncle who was a cardiothoracic anaesthetist, Mr Scarci trained across four countries before settling in London.
Qualified in Italy before beginning specialist training in cardiothoracic surgery.
Including a senior clinical fellowship in thoracic surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London.
Advanced keyhole and VATS technique at one of the leading thoracic centres in North America, with further training at McMaster University.
Appointed to the UK’s largest specialist cardiothoracic hospital.
Serving as Director of Thoracic Surgery in Milan before returning to London.
NHS practice based at Hammersmith Hospital, with private chest wall clinics across five London hospitals.
Last reviewed · August 2026
Chest wall surgery is a small field, and much of what is now standard practice was argued out in journals and society working groups over the last fifteen years. Mr Scarci has been part of that conversation rather than a spectator to it. He has trained surgeons who now work at the Cleveland Clinic London, Harefield, the Royal Brompton and St Thomas’, and continues to teach and examine internationally.
Mr Scarci contributes regularly to national coverage of chest and lung health, and his practice is documented across leading hospitals, directories and academic publishers.
Press“Lung and chest surgery in London — expert insight from Mr Marco Scarci, one of the UK’s leading thoracic surgeons.”
— The Independent
Press“5,000 procedures, 170 publications, one NHS Excellence Award — the case for Mr Marco Scarci being Britain’s best thoracic surgeon.”
— Luxury Lifestyle Magazine
Press“No waiting lists, no rotating staff, no second opinions needed — why Marco Scarci is the UK’s top thoracic surgeon.”
— London Insider
Press“Scandal of patients dying from a cracked rib as NHS fails to adopt new surgical technique to prevent pneumonia.”
— Daily Mail
Scans and letters are reviewed in advance, so the consultation starts with a discussion rather than with your file being opened for the first time.
Several chest wall diagnoses — slipping rib among them — are invisible on imaging and are made by specific manual tests. Most patients have never had them performed.
Mr Scarci sees you at consultation, performs the surgery personally, and reviews your recovery. There is no relay between team members.
Any result that matters is discussed with you directly, usually within 24 hours, rather than arriving as a letter or waiting for the next clinic.
The same surgeon from first consultation to discharge — examining, treating and following up personally, across five London hospitals.
Imperial College NHS
Bupa Cromwell Hospital
The London Clinic