Minimally invasive repair of pectus carinatum by modification of the Abramson technique

Introduction
The minimally invasive pectus carinatum surgery described by Abramson has been performed in many centers. We modified the “sub-muscular tunnel creation” part of the original Abramson technique.

Aim
To compare the operative time between the original Abramson technique and a lightly modified approach.

Material and methods
A retrospective review of 84 patients who underwent minimally invasive repair of pectus carinatum deformity between July 2008 and November 2017 was performed. We applied two different techniques, the original Abramson technique and the modified technique. Sixty-eight patients – 49 (72%) males and 19 (28%) females – underwent minimally invasive repair of a pectus carinatum deformity as described by Abramson (Abramson group). Sixteen patients – 13 (81%) males and 3 (19%) females – were operated on by our modified Abramson technique at our institution (Modified group).

Results
Eighty-four patients were included in this study: 68 patients from the Abramson group and 16 patients from the Modified group. There was no significant difference between the groups with respect to preoperative demographic features, including median age and sex. Median operative time was significantly shorter in the Modified group than the Abramson group (43 min, range: 32–54 min) in the Modified group vs. 30 min (range: 20–35 min) in the Abramson group; p < 0.001).

Conclusions
This article describes a modification of a surgical technique that is safely and easily used in minimally invasive correction of pectus carinatum deformities, with minimal complications, high satisfaction rates and shorter operative time.