Open-Repair Surgery for Pectus Excavatum to Preserve Internal Thoracic Artery (ITA)

Pectus excavatum has been performed using techniques such as sternum elevation and sternum reversal; however, the Nuss method is now widely used. The Nuss method is considered less invasive, but it requires a plate. We have performed open-repair surgery that can be completed at once without using a plate as a standard procedure. Conversely, the usefulness of the internal thoracic artery (ITA) in coronary artery bypass surgery and breast reconstruction has increased in recent years. Therefore, since 2017, we changed the surgical procedure to preserve the ITA; here, we mainly report on the surgical procedure. Five patients, four boys and one girl, were examined for in Haller index, operation time, blood loss, postoperative complications, and postoperative hospital stay. Among the five cases, before the change of surgical procedure, the operation time, blood loss, and hospitalization period postoperatively were not significantly different from those before the change. Bilateral ITA could be preserved except in one patient in whom one side was damaged and ligated during the operation. No postoperative complications were observed in all cases. It is possible to preserve the ITA, and we intend to perform additional studies to evaluate its long-term effectiveness.