Pectus excavatum, also known as “funnel chest”, is different for everyone. Most who have the condition were born with it.
A patient’s breastbone curves inwards, with a dip the ribs, which can leave the chest appearing sunken or hollow.
It is usually more noticeable in childhood or teenage years.
One treatment is vacuum bell therapy, using a suction device that sits over the sunken part of the chest to gradually lift the breastbone forwards.
It works best in younger people with a flexible chest wall and a relatively shallow deformity.
Another treatment, compression bracing, involves a specially fitted brace and is most effective in teenagers – but generally less so once the chest becomes rigid in adulthood.
In its statement, the Department of Health said work it carried out in 2023 led to the commissioning of a service for “non-surgical bracing of pectus carinatum”.
It added it is understood this “can, in appropriately selected patients, negate the requirement for surgery”.
“The impact of this service will be evaluated, including its potential to free up theatre capacity for those conditions which can only be resolved surgically.”
