NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Surgical repair of pectus excavatum can dramatically improve body image as well as physical and psychosocial functioning, according to a report in the December issue of Pediatrics.

“These results should prompt physicians to consider the physiologic and psychological implications of pectus excavatum just as they would any other physical deformity known to have such consequences,” Dr. Robert E. Kelly, from Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, and colleagues conclude.

Using the Pectus Excavatum Evaluation Questionnaire, the research team assessed thoughts about body image and functioning in 264 patients, ranging in age from 8 to 21 years, who underwent surgical repair, and 291 parents. A 1-year follow-up survey was completed by 247 patients and 274 parents.

Responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating a less-desirable experience.

The authors did not find a correlation between preoperative psychosocial functioning and objective pectus excavatum severity.

Overall, 97% of patients thought that the surgery improved the appearance of their chest, the report indicates. Surgery was associated with a reduction in feelings of social self-consciousness and with an improved body image.

Specifically, for children the body image score improved from 2.30 to 1.40 and the physical difficulty score from 2.11 to 1.37.

The results of the parental survey indicated improvements in emotional difficulties (score improved from 1.81 to 1.24), social self-consciousness (2.86 to 1.33), and physical difficulties (2.14 to 1.32).

Dr. Kelly and colleagues note that pectus excavatum is often dismissed as “only cosmetic,” but they suggest that the condition “is not trivial in its effects on the life of the child.”

Reference:
Pediatrics 2008;122:1218-1222.