Abstract
In 281 patients with pectus excavatum undergoing sternal turnover and overlap (STO-O) or sterno-costal elevation (SCE) in a 3-year period (January 1988 to December 1990), its surgical invasion and postoperative complications were studied on. Of the 281 patients, 37 with the mean age of 23.9 underwent STO-O, and 244 with the mean age of 7.4 did SCE. Combined operation was performed in 12 patients, and reoperation after an operation at other hospital was done in 5. Ten patients received blood transfusion during and after surgery, 57 patients were ventilated mechanically for 2.6 hours following surgery, but none of them showed paradoxical movement of the chest wall. Minor complications occurred in 8% (23) of them; pneumothorax in 5, wound trouble without infection in 12, and wound infection in 6. All wounds were closed by 2.6 months on an average. No patients developed pneumonia or any other severe complication. The mean hospital stay after operation was 8.0 days. In the surgical repair of pectus excavatum, SCE was selected for younger while STO-O for older patients. Both repair procedures could provide minimal surgical invasion and no severe postoperative complications.
