Surgical treatment of pectus excavatum is intended to reduce pressure on vital organs and create a more normal chest shape by repositioning the chest including the ribs, sternum or “breastbone”, and the cartilage that connects the ribs to the breastbone.
Until the widespread adoption of the minimally-invasive Nuss Procedure during the 1990s, a surgery that is commonly referred to as the Ravitch Procedure was the most common surgical option for correction of pectus excavatum.