Vacuum Bell Therapy for Pectus Excavatum: Long-term Experience at a Single Center
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- Excellent correction with vacuum bell therapy for pectus excavatum is uncommon (31/278 patients, 11% in this series).
- Initial chest depth <1.5 cm and greater chest wall flexibility predict better outcomes with vacuum bell therapy.
- Optimal age for vacuum bell therapy is 8-12.9 years, with younger patients achieving better correction rates.
- Vacuum bell may be most appropriate for mild pectus excavatum in flexible, younger patients rather than severe deformities.
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What factors affect outcomes in patients with Pectus excavatum treated with vacuum bell therapy? I'm Alex Halpern, a research fellow from Children's National, and this is an article that you should know. Oktman at all performed a single institution retrospective chart review from 2012 to 2023 to try and answer this question. They included 278 patients in their analysis. 31 had excellent corrections and 247 had non-excellent corrections with vacuum bell therapy. Initial chest depth less than 1.5 centimeters and chest wall flexibility were predictors of positive outcomes, and excellent correction was more common in children 8 to 12.9 years old. So it seems like excellent correction in children with Pectus excavatum treated with vacuum bell therapy is uncommon, but improved outcomes are seen in younger patients with more mild defects and greater chest wall flexibility. Does this information change your practice? Let us know what you think in the comments below.