2017 Volume 53 Issue 2 Pages 295-299
A 23-year-old woman with pectus excavatum and Marfan’s syndrome, who underwent a Nuss procedure 21 months earlier, was diagnosed as having right-side pneumothorax and underwent thoracic drainage. Because chest drainage was not effective, thoracoscopic surgery was performed 5 days after admission. Intraoperatively, suppurative pleural effusion and adhesions were noted between the lung and the chest wall and diaphragm. She was diagnosed as having pneumothorax and empyema, and she underwent bullectomy, debridement, and pleural irrigation. Her postoperative course was uneventful without recurrence or infection of the pectus bar. Because chest drainage might not be effective for pneumothorax during Nuss bar placement, thoracoscopic bullectomy during Nuss bar placement is safe, and pneumothorax is associated with a potential risk of empyema, early bullectomy should be considered for a patient with pneumothorax during Nuss bar placement.
