A novel three-dimensional printed vacuum bell for pectus excavatum treatment: a preliminary study

Conservative treatment with a vacuum bell (VB) for pectus excavatum (PE) has now been gradually popularized as an alternative to surgery. We describe our initial experience with a novel three dimensional (3D) printed VB device.

Prospectively collected data of all patients who started using a 3D printed VB in 2018 at our institution were analyzed. Linear and logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with effectiveness of device usage.

In total, forty-two patients with a median age of 3.6 years were treated with the device. The median follow-up duration was 11.1 months and the mean initial Depth Ratio (DR) was 0.129. There were no permanent sequelae from side effects. Thirty patients with at least one follow-up body scan data showed varying improvement (z = - 4.569, p = 0.0000). Linear regression suggested that longer usage improved outcomes (R² = 0.235, p = 0.014). By logistic regression there was a trend of younger ages and less initial DR for better improvement though neither was statistically significant (p = 0.086, 0.078, respectively).

Our initial experience has shown the 3D printed VB may be as effective as other conventional VBs and could be used as an alternative to surgical treatment for selected patients with PE. More experience and studies with this type of VB are needed to demonstrate its superiority with regard to the 3D printing design and optimal timing and indication for use.