Surgical Correction of Pectus Excavatum in Children

Objective: Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital hereditary chest-wall deformity in children. This study analyses a single-medical center experience of pectus excavatum with thoracic wall reconstruction using a uniform technique of Ravitch's operation without prosthesis in childhood. This is a retrospective study from January 1998 to November 2000. During this period, we collected 54 patients who underwent pectus excavatum by Ravitch's operation without prosthesis. The medical records of these patients were reviewed. Methods: A total of 54 patients with a mean age of 50.96 months old underwent pectus excavatum by Ravitch's operation without prosthesis. The male-to-female ratio was 38:16. Decrease in stamina and endurance during exercise was reported by 67%; 58% had frequent respiratory infection, 38% had chest pain, and 17% had asthma. Then about 74.1% pectus excavatum patients had cardiopulmonary function problems (74.1% tricuspid valve regurgitation, 57.4% pulmonary valve regurgitation and 11.1% mitral valve regurgitation). Results: The mean hospital stay was 7.08 +/- 1.03 days; the mean operative times was 151.3 +/- 32.8 minutes; the mean pectus severity score was 4.75 (from 3.5 to 8.9). Overall, complications included hypertrophic scar formation (2), seroma formation (1), postoperative upper respiratory infection (2) and hemothorax (1). More than 98% had a good or excellent result. Conclusions: Pectus excavatum deformities can be repaired with a low rate of complications, a short hospital stay, reduction in postoperative cardiorespiratory disorders, improvement of subjective complaints and excellent long-term physiologic and cosmetic results.

並列關鍵字

pectus excavatum ； Ravitch's operation

國際替代計量

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