Nuss procedure for correction of pectus excavatum: a report of 21 cases

Objective: To investigate the effect of Nuss procedure with non-thoracoscope in treatment of funnel chest in children.Methods: Twenty-one children with funnel chest had Nuss operation with no assistance of thoracoscope.A small incision was made in each lateral chestwall,a steel bar was inserted under the sternum from the right thoracic cavity,and then the bar was turned over to raise the sternum to the normal position.The bar was fixed to the bilateral costal bones by using two stabilizing bars.Results: The operation was successful in all the cases.The operation time ranged from 30 to 50 min,and the average blood loss was less than 10 ml.The average hospital stay was 6.2 days,pneumothorax occurred in 4 patients after the operation.The results were excellent in 17 cases and good in 4 cases.All the patients were followed up for 1-20 months with no complaints.Conclusions: Modified Nuss procedure with no assistance of thoracoscope is easy to operate with minimal invasion and good short-term results.It is worth trying and popularizing although its long term result is yet to be observed.