P-229EARLY AND LATE RESULTS OF NUSS PROCEDURE IN SURGICAL TREATMENT OF PECTUS EXCAVATUM IN DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS

Objectives: The aim of the study was a comparison of early and late results of the surgical treatment of the funnel chest using the Nuss method in patients in various age groups. Methods: Five hundred and fifty-six out of 718 patients operated from June 2002 to October 2012, were included in the retrospective analysis. Patients were divided into three different age groups: Group A - 156 patients from 7 to 14 years old, Group B - 328 patients aged 15 to 20 and Group C - 72 patients older than 25 years. Results: Early and non-life-threatening postoperative complications developed in 190 (34.8%) of the total number of cases and their frequency increased with patients' age (Group A - 23.1%, Group B - 37.4% Group C - 44.4%, P = 0.00283). This significant difference between age groups concerned especially pneumothorax (P = 0.00919) and severe chest pain (P = 0.0012). Good and very good corrective effects were achieved in 97.3% of the entire patients' population. Recurrence of the deformity was more often observed in the youngest patients (Group A - 3.2%) than in other patients (Group B - 1.2%, Group C - 1.3%). Moreover, the most significant correlation with morbidity in the early postoperative period was age above 25 years (P = 0.00002), duration of the surgical procedure above 60 min and implantation of more than one corrected bar. Conclusions: Good cosmetic results obtained with the use of Nuss operation were not related to the age of patients. The high incidence of minor complications in older patients seems to be an acceptable cost of good cosmetic outcome and stable correction. In the youngest patients, the surgical morbidity is the lowest, but the frequency of the recurrence of deformation is higher than in other groups. Given the above mentioned, the optimal time for the funnel chest correction is therefore still open. Disclosure: No significant relationships.