Concept:
The question tests the clinician's knowledge of eponymously named surgical procedures used in pediatric thoracic surgery.
The Nuss procedure is a highly specific, minimally invasive technique designed to correct a specific congenital chest wall deformity.
Explanation:
• Pectus excavatum (funnel chest) is the most common congenital chest wall deformity, characterized by a concave, inward depression of the sternum.
• Historically, this was treated with the highly invasive Ravitch procedure, which involved extensive cartilage resection and sternal osteotomy.
• The Nuss procedure was developed as a Minimally Invasive Repair of Pectus Excavatum (MIRPE).
• In the Nuss procedure, a custom-curved titanium or steel bar is passed retrosternally (behind the sternum) through small bilateral thoracic incisions under thoracoscopic guidance.
• When the bar is flipped, it physically pushes the depressed sternum outward into a normal anatomical position.
• Pectus carinatum (pigeon chest) is an outward protrusion, which is typically treated with compressive bracing or a modified Ravitch procedure, not the Nuss procedure.
• Poland syndrome involves missing chest musculature (pectoralis major), and flail chest is acute trauma; neither utilizes the Nuss bar.
Final Answer:
The Nuss procedure is the minimally invasive surgical repair specifically used to correct Pectus excavatum.