ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive surgery of pectus excavatum by Dr. Nuss is a new technique that allows the repair of this deformity without any cartilage resection or sternal osteotomy. We describe the early experiences with Nuss procedure. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From December 1999 to January 2001, twenty patients with pectus excavatum underwent repair by Nuss procedure. There were 14 males and 6 females whose mean age was 10.1 +/- 7.7 years, ranging from 1 to 33 years. Most patients(N=19) were below 20 years, except 33 years old female patient(N=1). RESULT: The severity of depression was assessed by computed tomography(CT). CT index was mean 4.9 +/- 5.7(ranged from 3.3 to 8). The average operating time was 85.8 +/- 23.7 minutes. The used metal bars were ranged in length from 8 inches to 16 inches(average 11.8 +/- 14.4 inches). Early postoperative complications were pneumothorax in three patients, paralytic ileus in one, and postoperative chest pain requiring analgesics in all patients. Epidural analgesia was used in one adult patient for control of postoperative pain. In our experiences, there were no serious complications posteoperatively. CONCLUSION: There were good early results with the Nuss procedure that we performed for repairing of pectus excavatum. However, we believe the procedure needs to be observed for the long term results for it to be broadly accepted.