Nuss technique in pectus excavatum: a mono-institutional experience

Pectus excavatum (PE) is the most common anomaly of the anterior chest wall. Prior PE was corrected by a modified Ravitch operation, but since Nuss published his minimal technique in 1998, most surgeons have preferred this technique.

Since 2001 the modified Nuss procedure has routinely been used for correction of more than 1,500 patients at Aarhus University Hospital. In the time period between January 1, 2011 and January 31, 2015, 675 patients have been corrected. The median age was 16 years (range, 11-58 years). All patients had preoperatively an epidural catheter and the operations were done in general anaesthesia. The postoperative pain treatment was planned for 4-5 weeks and the patients were routinely seen in the outpatient clinic 6 weeks after surgery and the bars removed after 3 years.

Four hundred-and-fifty patients had one bar, 216 patients with two bars and nine patients with three bars inserted. The median length of the bar was 10 inch. The median duration of the operation was 29 minutes. The median postoperative stay was 3 days. No death, cardiac perforation or deep infection occurred and only 5% of the patients experienced a complication.

The Nuss procedure should still be considered in the treatment of PE. To my opinion, it should be the choice for correction of PE. The short bar should be used to achieve the best stability of the system, to obtain a good cosmetic result, a reduced dysfunction motion of the chest wall and an increased cardiac performance.