Ravitch procedure

The Ravitch procedure is one of the corrective surgical treatments for pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum. The costal cartilage is removed and the sternum detached before inserting a small bar underneath the sternum to hold it in the desired position. The bar is left implanted until the cartilage grows back; this typically take about 6 months. The bar is subsequently removed in a simple out-patient procedure. 

Complications of Ravitch procedure includes:

• wound infection

• hemothorax

• reoperations

• pneumothorax

• pneumonia ⁵

While the Ravitch technique is not widely practised because of its invasiveness, it is helpful in certain clinical sitations:

• in older patients, where the sternum has calcified
• asymmetrical deformity
• failure of the Nuss procedure

See also

• Nuss procedure