Introduction: Pectus excavatum is the most common congenital chest wall deformity. Aproximatelly 1 out of 400 to 1000 newborns are affected by this diagnosis. Surgical correction is indicated in patients that fulfil the indication criteria. The highly modified Ravitch correction (HMRR) and minimally invasive pectus excavatum repair (MIRPE) are by far the most popular methods of correction. MIRPE has been established as the method of choice amongst children. Feasibility of the minimally invasive approach in the funnel chest correction in adult population still remains controversial.
Methods: The authors present a retrospective analysis of adult patients treated by MIRPE in their institution. Sixty adult patients with pectus excavatum underwent MIRPE from October 2010 to March 2015. Various parameters were evaluated retrospectively. The effectiveness and safety of both techniques were evaluated with the use of statistical software SPSS® version 21.0 (IBM, USA). Data were evaluated using Student´s t-test or Mann-Whitney U-test for normally and non-normally distributed data, respectively. The comparison of categorical variables between the groups was evaluated by Pearson´s chi-square test. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: 45 men and 15 women underwent MIRPE during the period. Median age in the group was 23 years without any statistically significant difference between males and females (p=0.386). Median Haller index was 3.93 and was slightly higher in women (p= 0.285). Asymmetric deformities were present in 20 patients (33.3%) without any statistically significant difference between the sexes (p=0.206). Median duration of the surgical correction was 73 minutes and was longer in males (p=0.312). Two bars were implanted in 27 patients with no significant difference between the sexes (p=0.454). Complication rate was 25% (15/60) without any significant difference based on the number of implanted bars (p=0.178), sex (p=0.863) or the presence of an asymmetric deformity (p=0.527). Wound seromas with 10% (6/60) were the most common complication. Median postoperative length of stay was 5 days without any significant difference between males and females (p=0.653) and patients with different number of bars implanted (p=0.600). The need for rehospitalisation and reoperation was indicated in 5 patients (8.3%). Allergy to chromium led to bar extraction in 1 patient and 4 patients were treated by V.A.C.® therapy (KCI, USA) because of wound abscess (1) and seroma (3).
Conclusion: Minimally invasive pectus excavatum repair is an effective surgical technique for the treatment of pectus excavatum in adult patients. This technique can be learned and performed safely even without any former experience with this correction in children.
Key words: adult patients - MIRPE pectus excavatum.