In a study of patient experiences and satisfaction with dynamic compression bracing to treat pectus carinatum, researchers found that the bracing was effective in achieving correction in compliant patients and that patients reported high satisfaction with the bracing.
The research team from Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri, conducted a prospective institutional data review of patients who underwent dynamic compression bracing to treat pectus carinatum from July 2011 to June 2018. The data was analyzed for those who entered the retainer mode after correction, defined by a correction pressure of less than 1 psi, and a telephone survey was conducted regarding the patients’ bracing experience and satisfaction with the outcome on a scale of one to ten.
Of 460 patients, 144 reached the retainer mode. Median time to retainer mode was 5.5 months. There was no statistically significant relationship between initial correction pressure or carinatum height and time to retainer mode. Fifty-seven percent were compliant with brace use, and median time to retainer mode in this subset was significantly shorter than noncompliant patients (3.5 months versus 10 months). Fifty-three percent of the patients responded to the survey 13 months after the last clinic visit. The main barrier to compliance with wearing the brace was discomfort (37 percent), while the main motivation for compliance was appearance (58 percent). All respondents endorsed bracing as worthwhile, with 94 percent reporting a satisfaction rating of eight or greater for the correction outcome.
The study was published in the Journal of Laparoendoscopic & Advanced Surgical Techniques.
