Funnel Chest Minimally Invasive Surgery Center

Physician Zhi-Chun Chu

Introduction

  • Specializes in funnel chest minimally invasive surgery (Nuss procedure)
  • Each year, 150 patients with funnel chest were treated, with more than 1,250 successful cases of funnel chest minimally invasive surgery.
  • Founder of the “Taiwan Funnel Chest Disease Association”

Treatment Advantages

  1. The operation uses a small incision from the side or underarm and is placed in a C-shaped supporting frame to correct the inward concave sternum and costal cartilage. This technique can help eliminate the physical damage that a traditional surgery (Ravitch procedure) might cause by removing six to eight pairs of costal cartilage.
  2. Minimally invasive surgery, the wound is only 2-3 cm, which does not affect the appearance.
  3. Bleeding amount is only 10-30 cc.
  4. You can get out of bed 2-3 days after surgery, be discharged after 4-5 days, and exercise after 10 days.

Funnel Chest Introduction

The funnel chest (also known as pectus excavatum) is a thoracic abnormality that causes a funnel chest deformity in every 300-400 newborns. Funnel chests often affect the heart and lung function of the patients due to the depression of the sternum, which leads to arrhythmia, poor lung function, lack of exercise capacity and appearance defects. In severe cases, psychological disorders such as inferiority, loneliness, and social isolation may occur.

Director of Pediatric Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital

Associate Professor of Surgery, National Defense Medical Center

Executive Supervisor of Taiwan Surgery Association

Director of Taiwan Pediatric Surgery Medical Association

Comparison between minimally invasive surgery and traditional surgery for funnel chest

Type of surgery
method
Minimally invasive surgery
(Nuss procedure)
Traditional surgery
(Ravitch procedure)
Surgery MethodMicro-invasive surgery.
Small incision from the side or underarm.
Insert the C-shaped supporting frame.
Push out and support the inward concave sternum
and costal cartilage.
After two to three years, when the thorax is secured
in shape, the supporting frame is removed.
Big wound surgery
Cut the pectoralis major sternum
And another 6-8 cut to correct the costal cartilage
Surgical incision2-3 cm incisions on two sides of the chest
for esthetic purpose
Large incision in the front of the chest
Surgery time2-3 hours3-6 hours
Bleeding amountLittleA lot
Days of hospitalization3-5 days5-10 days
*Due to the regulations, this website must declare that the patient’s condition varies from person to person and the treatment effectiveness cannot be guaranteed to be 100%.
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