Wire fracture in postoperative Nuss procedure: a problem that cannot be ignored

Surgical stainless wire has been widely used to stabilize pectus bar and ribs in Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum correction. However, wire fracture and its secondary complications are problems easily to be ignored but very important. The purpose of this article was to describe a series of cases with wire breakage, hoping to arouse the attention of worldwide thoracic surgeons to this potential threat, and to share our modifications on the fixation patterns and materials in Nuss procedure.

From September 2011 to January 2020, 44 patients underwent Nuss procedure at Chongqing University Three Gorges Hospital. In the initial 25 patients (Group A), each bar was secured by stainless wires, and the latter 19 patients (Group B) received stainless wires and polyblend polyethylene sutures (PDS) in the bar fixation. Patient demographics, Haller index (HI), wire fracture rate, characteristics of the broken wires, and operation time were recorded.

The mean operation age was 8.1±4.3 years in group A and 10.4±2.9 years in group B. There was no statistical difference in HIs between the two groups (P>0.05). The wire fracture occurred in 88.0% of the patients in Group A, while the wires in Group B were all intact. There was no bar displacement or other serious complication requiring surgical intervention in the two groups. The mean operation time of bar removal when encountering wire fracture was 104.6±42.8 minutes, which was significantly higher than that in Group B (P≤0.001).

The wire fracture in the bar fixation could pose potential hazards to patients deserving special attention from thoracic surgeons. Cancel the wire fixation in the non-stabilizer side while simultaneously using wires and PDS in the pectus bar fixation may achieve the pectus bar stability while overcoming the problem of wire fracture.