Objective To review and investigate the compl ication and the treatment in Nuss procedure for correction of pectus excavatum. Methods From September 2005 to March 2009, 221 patients with pectus excavatum were treated withNuss procedure, including 189 males and 32 females and aging 2 years old and 10 months to 25 years old (median 8 years and 7 months old). Of 18 patients with recurrent pectus excavatum, 12 patients underwent a Ravitch procedure and the recurrence time of the depression after the first operation was less than 1 year in 2 patients, 1-3 years in 3, 3-5 years in 5, and over 5 years in 2; 6 patients underwent a stemotumover operation and the recurrence time of the depression after the first operation was less than 1 year in 2 patients, 1-3 years in 1 and 3-5 years in 3. The other 203 patients had a primary Nuss procedure, and the course of disease was from 18 months to 24 years. The preoperative CT scan showed the Haller index was 4.36 ± 1.34. Results The operation in all the patients were performed successfully without compl ications of death, massive hemorrhage and intrathoracic organ injury. The time of operation was 25-80 minutes (mean 40 minutes). The bleeding volume during procedure was 5-25 mL, with an average of 10 mL. Local allergy occurred in 3 cases after 7-10 months of operation, wound reject reaction in 2 cases after 3 and 11 months respectively, and effusion in 3 cases after 6-10 months; incision healed after dressing change. Incision healed primarly in the other patients. Pneumothorax occurred in 3 cases when the operation finished and in 7 cases after 2-4 days, pleural effusion in 4 cases after 3-5 days of operation, Nuss plate displacement in 2 cases after 3 days and 9 months, respectively. The patients having compl ication recovered well after treatment. The compl ication rate was about 8.72% (17/195). The followupperiod was 2-37 months for 195 patients. The postoperative Haller index was 2.52 ± 0.32 after 3 months of operation, showing statistically significant difference when compared with that before operation (P lt; 0.05). Conclusion Nuss procedure with non-thoracoscopic assistance for correction of pectus excavatum is safe because of less trauma and compl ication.
Objective To assess the efficacy and summarize the treatment experience in correction of recurrent pectus excavatum by the non-thoracoscopic minimally invasive Nuss procedure. Methods From July 2003 to November 2007, 21 patients with recurrent pectus excavatum were treated with surgical repairs. Among them, there were 15 patients who underwent a Nuss procedure (the recurrent Nuss group), 13 males and 2 females, aged (13.31 ± 4.21) years old, and the preoperative CT scan showed the mean Haller index was 3.98 ± 0.94. The recurrence time of the depression after the primary operation was different: 2 patients with less than 1 year, 4 with 1-3 years, 7 with 3-5 years and 2 with over 5 years. There were 6 patients who underwent a modified Ravitch procedure (the recurrent Ravitch group), 5 males and 1 female, aged (13.67 ± 2.23) years old, and the mean Haller index was 3.92 ± 1.01. The recurrence time of the depression after the primary operation was as follows: 2 patients with less than 1 year, 1 with 1-3 years and 3 with 3-5 years. Another 119 patients had a primary Nuss procedure in the same period (the primary Nuss group), 95 males and 24 females, aged (7.79 ± 3.59) years old, and the mean Haller index was 4.61 ± 1.36. In terms of the age and the Haller index, there was significant difference between the recurrent Nuss group as well as the recurrent Ravitch group and the primary Nuss group (Plt; 0.05), but there was no significant difference between the recurrent Nuss group and the recurrent Ravitch group (Pgt; 0.05). Results All the patients were performed with the surgery successfully without any severe compl ications. The operation time, blood loss and postoperative hospital ization time of the recurrent Nuss group and the primary Nuss group were significantly less than those of the recurrent Ravitch group (P lt; 0.05), but there was no significant difference between the recurrent Nuss group and the primary Nuss group (P gt; 0.05). All the patients were followed up for 1.5-37.0 months (11.2 months on average). Except for 1 with plate displacement and 2 with suture reaction in the primary Nuss group who were readmitted to hospital, the other patients recovered well. The patients had perfect thoracic appearances with increased exercise tolerance and had a significantly improved psychological condition and an active social participation because of their improved appearances. The postoperative mean Haller index was 2.58 ± 0.31, 2.77 ± 0.48 and 2.52 ± 0.34 in the recurrent Nuss group, the recurrent Ravitch group and the primary Nuss group, respectively, with significant difference compared with the preoperative mean Haller index in each group (Plt; 0.05). Conclusion Although the recurrent pectus excavatum repairs are technically more challenging than the primary surgery, the non-thoracoscopic Nuss procedure for reoperative correction is a safe, effective and rel iable method.
ObjectiveTo summarize clinical experience of minimally invasive non-thoracoscopic Nuss procedure for the treatment of pectus excavatum (PE). MethodsFifty-one pediatric patients received minimally invasive nonthoracoscopic Nuss procedure for PE between July 2008 and February 2014 in Department of Thoracic Surgery, Jinan Military General Hospital. There were 32 males and 19 females with their average age of 8.32 (2.5-17.0) years. Transverse incisions were made in bilateral chest wall. Supporting plate was put to right chest wall through retrosternal approach, turned over and fastened onto the ribs. ResultsDeformity of all the patients was successfully corrected. Operation time was 30-52 (38±9) minutes. One patients had heart injury which was repair after open thoracotomy, and then supporting-plate was successfully secured. Postoperative complications included subcutaneous emphysema in 7 patients, pneumothorax in 3 patients and atelectasis in 3 patients, all of whom were cured by conservative treatment. Supportingplate transposition occurred in 1 patient and was corrected by reoperation. All the patients were followed up for 1-42 (21.6±7.6) months. According to Nuss standard, there were 39 patients with excellent results, 9 patients with good results, and 3 patients with fair results. ConclusionMinimally invasive Nuss procedure is an efficacious, easy, feasible and safe procedure for the treatment of PE with low morbidity.