Patient's question:
After my child was born, I noticed that he had pectus excavatum. However, because the child was too young at the time, we never had surgery. Now that he is four years old, the doctor said it would be a good time for the surgery. Is pectus excavatum surgery a major operation?Doctor's answer:
This is not a major surgery. Currently, the commonly used procedure is the Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum under thoracoscopy. There are only three small holes made about 1-3 centimeters above the upper chest wall. The surgery has minimal trauma, is minimally invasive, reduces surgical trauma, and speeds up recovery time. Some doctors have improved the sternum (sternum flip) surgery, modifying the previous procedure. The surgery is simpler, with the operation time limited to 1-2 hours. The cost of this surgery is low, with fewer complications and a lower recurrence rate.