A 12-year-old girl was followed up by the Paediatric Infectious Diseases Unit due to left chest pain associated with pneumonia. After resolution of the pneumonia, the chest pain persisted, so she was referred to the paediatric pneumology and paediatric orthopaedics departments and finally to the paediatric surgery department.
She presented with a picture of selective left costal pain of 3 months' evolution, which was not related to postural changes or respiratory movements, was continuous and was not relieved by oral analgesics.
On examination, she presented with more intense pain on palpation of the left costal border, with the most painful point being located at the junction of the 10th left rib with the 11th rib. The rest of the examination revealed no pathological signs, nor did the chest X-ray.
Initial anti-inflammatory treatment was recommended, ruling out other diagnostic possibilities. Since there was no improvement, excision of the junction of the left 10th rib with the 11th rib was indicated under general anaesthesia.
In both cases there was a resolution of symptoms from the first postoperative day. After four years of evolution, we can qualify the result as satisfactory.

