Effect of the compressive brace in pectus carinatum
- Abstract
- BACKGROUND: Patients with pectus carinatum complain of cosmetic problems because they stand out in spite of wearing clothes. Surgical treatment of pectus carinatum is resection of the deformed cartilage but a wide operative scar, postoperative pain and complications related with the operation can occur. Therefore we have performed compressive brace therapy as a non-operative treatment of pectus carinatum, and observed the effects and the efficiency of this treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2001 to December 2007, 119 patients with pectus carinatum were treated with a compressive brace that they wore for 24h each day. Their degree of satisfaction was measured after 6 months wearing. This was evaluated with a score of 1-4. A score of 1 was assigned when the status was worse, 2 when it was same, 3 when partially improved, and 4 when a remarkable improvement was observed. Satisfaction was assessed subjectively by a parent if the patient was a child, and patients older than middle school age assessed the score themselves. RESULTS: The mean overall satisfaction score was 3.95+/-0.4. Recurrence of pectus carinatum after removal of the compressive brace occurred in 6 (5.0%) of the total 119 patients. Four of these six patients stopped wearing the compressive brace against our advice. These six patients were re-corrected by re-wearing the compressive brace within 3 months after they originally removed it. Complications were discomfort at initial wearing of the brace, which occurred in all patients, skin rash due to compression for 84 patients (70.6%) and skin discoloration due to excessive compression for 18 patients (15.1%). The skin rash and discoloration disappeared within a few months after removal of the brace. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that non-surgical treatment using a compressive brace in patients with pectus carinatum was effective, especially in children and teenagers. Non-surgical treatment using a compressive brace in patients with pectus carinatum would be helpful for those who dislike surgery because of their fear about general anesthesia and operative complications. But, long-term follow-up is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of this compressive brace and the recurrence of the condition after its removal.
- All Author(s)
- S. Y. Lee
; S. J. Lee
; C. W. Jeon
; C. S. Lee
; K. R. Lee
- Issued Date
- 2008
- Type
- Article
- Keyword
- Pectus carinatum; Chest deformity; Compressive brace
- Publisher
- European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
- ISSN
- 1010-7940
- Citation Title
- European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
- Citation Volume
- 34
- Citation Number
- 1
- Citation Start Page
- 146
- Citation End Page
- 149
- Language(ISO)
- eng
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.ejcts.2008.04.012
- URI
- http://schca-ir.schmc.ac.kr/handle/2022.oak/2631
- 공개 및 라이선스
-
- 파일 목록
-
Items in Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.