How early can we repair pectus excavatum: the earlier the better?

Abstract

Our results suggest that routine early repair of pectus excavatum in patients older than 3 years of age is safe and effective. We would recommend early repair to avoid asymmetry transformation of the deformity and to enhance the patients' growth potential.

Effects of Nuss procedure on thoracic scoliosis in patients with pectus excavatum

“…In addition, correction of PE had some significant effects on TS. The optimal age for the correction of the deformity is a controversial issue (14)(15)(16)(17). However, these findings suggest that early correction of PE can reduce TS in patients with PE (11,13).…”

Radiologic factors related to double-bar insertion in minimal invasive repair of pectus excavatum

“…A patient's age is also a risk factor for asymmetrical transformation of pectus excavatum. [19] As mentioned above, asymmetry increases the diffi culty of surgical repair. Thus, early surgical correction, prior to asymmetrical transformation, can aid in avoiding doublebar insertion.…”

A Next-Generation Pectus Excavatum Repair Technique: New Devices Make a Difference

“…Likewise, severe asymmetry and a higher Haller index and Depression index are more difficult to deal with. Through our experience, we found a good correlation with age of the patient and the risk of complications [16].…”

“…This policy was not chosen arbitrarily, but could not be avoided and was as a result of the availability of techniques and devices over the course of this study. In our later experience, more young patients came to surgery, and, consequently, demographics among the groups were different [16]. Nevertheless, we have more adult patients in new device groups, as the total number of patients with the next-generation approach was higher than the stabilizer applied patients.…”