Abstract A 19-year-old man presented with progressive exertional dyspnoea and mild right sided pleuritic chest pain on a background of Pectus Excavatum treated with a Nuss procedure in another institution. A chest radiograph was performed (Figure 1A) revealing a right-sided pneumothorax. On clarification, this was the man’s third presentation with pneumothorax in 2 months. Video assisted thorascopic surgery revealed the Nuss bar was not fixed to the chest wall on the right side and had subsequently pierced the lung (Figure 1B-C). The bar was removed from the lung leaving a significant communication between the lung and the pleural space (Figure 1D). An emergency wedge resection was performed to remove the damaged lung tissue and the Nuss bar was fixed to the right chest wall using wire sutures. A repeat chest x-ray was performed 3 days post procedure which revealed resolution of the pneumothorax. The patient was discharged with resolution of his symptoms and outpatient follow-up. This case showcases the potential life-threatening complications of performing cosmetic surgery for pectus excavatum and highlights the need for less invasive treatment options for individuals living with body image disturbance. Figure 1: A) Chest radiograph demonstrating right sided pneumothorax, with Nuss bar in situ. B-C) Images from video assisted thoracoscopy demonstrating the Nuss bar penetrating the lung tissue. D) Video assisted thoracoscopy image of damaged lung tissue post removal of Nuss bar This abstract is funded by: None
Sweeney et al. (Fri,) studied this question.