Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg.  2016 Feb;49(1):29-34. 10.5090/kjtcs.2016.49.1.29.

Pectus Excavatum and Pectus Carinatum: Associated Conditions, Family History, and Postoperative Patient Satisfaction

• Kuru P
• Cakiroglu
• Er A
• Ozbakir H
• Cinel AE
• Cangut B
• Iris M
• Canbaz B
• Picak E
• Yuksel M

• KMID: 2154333
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5090/kjtcs.2016.49.1.29

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Pectus excavatum (PE) and pectus carinatum (PC) are the most common chest wall deformities. In this study, we aimed to characterize how patients obtained information about these deformities, as well as patients' family history, associated medical problems, and postoperative satisfaction after the Nuss and Abramson procedures.
METHODS
This cross-sectional retrospective study included patients who were operated by a single surgeon between 2006 and 2013. Follow-up calls were made after approval of our institution's ethics committee. We reached 207 of the 336 PE patients (61.6%) and 73 of the 96 PC patients (76%).
RESULTS
The majority of the patients were male (85% of the PE patients and 91.8% of the PC patients). The age of diagnosis of PE was 14.52+/-0.51 years and the age at the time of operation was 17.89+/-0.42 years; for PC patients, the corresponding ages were 15.23+/-0.55 years and 16.77+/-0.55 years, respectively. A total of 70% of the PE patients and 63.8% of the PC patients obtained information about pectus deformities through the Internet. In 27.1% of the PE patients with an associated anomaly, 57.1% (n=13) had scoliosis, while 41.1% of the PC patients with an associated anomaly had kyphosis (n=5). Postoperative satisfaction, as evaluated on a scale from 0 to 10, was 8.17+/-0.15 for PE patients and 8.37+/-0.26 for PC patients. The postoperative pain duration was 51.93+/-5.18 days for PE patients and 38.5+/-6.88 days for PC patients.
CONCLUSION
In this study, we found that most patients with pectus deformities were male. The Internet was an important resource for patients to learn about their deformities. Family history and associated anomalies were identified as important aspects for consideration in the clinical setting. The patients reported high levels of postoperative satisfaction, and pain management was found to be one of the most important elements of postoperative care.

Keyword

Funnel chest; Pectus carinatum

MeSH Terms

Congenital Abnormalities
Diagnosis
Ethics Committees
Follow-Up Studies
Funnel Chest*
Humans
Internet
Kyphosis
Male
Pain Management
Pain, Postoperative
Patient Satisfaction*
Postoperative Care
Retrospective Studies
Scoliosis
Thoracic Wall