Thoracic wall deformities
Deformities of the thoracic wall cover a wide range of diseases, which have some disorders in common in the development of morphology of the thorax. They may be congenital (from birth) or acquired (appearing after infections, previous surgery...).
As the range is so wide, there may be anomalies that go unobserved, and which therefore do not require any type of treatment. There may be others that cause some type of aesthetic or functional defect, that do require treatment. In spite of this, not all cases require surgical treatment.
The most widely treated pathologies by the service are pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum.
Pectus excavatum causes a sunken appearance of the sternum, which if very evident, can be treated surgically. The Thoracic Surgery Services uses the modified Ravitch technique, which consists of a vertical incision at the level of the sternum, with resection (extraction of a part) of the affected costal cartilage, and then fixation with titanium bars or stitches.
Pectus carinatum, on the other hand, is a protrusion of the costal cartilage or sternum, and the surgical technique consists of resectioning them.