title: Difficulties and limitations in minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum--6 years experiences with Nuss technique.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In 1998, Dr Donald Nuss proposed minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum (MIRPE) which did not require the osteochondrous parts of the anterior chest wall to be resected. The paper aims at presenting the authors' own 6 years of experience in funnel chest repair with MIRPE technique. Also, many technical problems of this method are discussed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 1999 and 2005, 461 patients (99 female and 362 male, aged 3-31 years, mean age 15.2 years) with pectus excavatum were operated with the Nuss technique. All patients were operated-on according to the original operative protocol proposed by Donald Nuss. With growing experience, own modifications were introduced. Insertion of two bars was done in 17.4%, transverse sternotomy in adolescents with rigid anterior chest wall in 7.8%, limited excision of the rib cartilages in 5.9%, and parasternal fixation of the bar to prevent it from rotating in 59.7% of patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no deaths. Intraoperative complications were noted in 19 (4.1%) patients and postoperative ones were observed in 43 (9.3%) patients. The operative time ranged from 25 to 130 min (52 min on average). In 192 (41.6%) patients, an epidural block was used. The hospital stay ranged from 4 to 12 days with the mean of 5.3 days. A redo procedure for the bar rotation was necessary in 13 (2.8%) patients. The support bar has been removed in 260 (56.4%) patients so far. In all the patients, an adequate contour of the anterior chest wall has been maintained.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MIRPE proposed by Nuss has all the features of a minimally invasive procedure and is straightforward. Better clinical results are achievable in patients under 12 years of age with a symmetric deformity. In older patients (over 15 years of age) with a rigid chest or with an asymmetric deformity, additional procedures are required to achieve a comprehensive correction of the deformity. Recent results and forward clinical observations may give proof to establish MIRPE as a method of choice in funnel chest correction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Silesian Medical University, Minimally Invasive Surgery Center for Adults and Children, University Hospital No. 1, 3 Maja 13-15, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland.
authors.forename: Józef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dzielicki
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Korlacki
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Janicka
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dzielicka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005660:Funnel Chest / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome