Does physiotherapy applied in conjunction with compression brace treatment in patients with pectus carinatum have efficacy? A preliminary randomized-controlled study.

Abstract

Non-invasive treatment of pectus carinatum (PC) deformity includes the use of a compression brace and exercises. In this study, we aimed to examine the effect of a physiotherapy protocol applied as adjunct to compression brace treatment in patients with PC. The study included 30 male patients between 11 and 18years of age. Patients were randomly assigned into two groups: a brace treatment only group (Group 1) and a brace and physiotherapy group (Group 2). Patient demographics and disease-related properties, protrusion measurements, postural evaluations, deformity perceptions, life quality, and treatment satisfaction were evaluated. Although both groups showed improvements based on external chest measurements related to PC protrusion following treatment (p < 0.001), Group 2 had more benefit from the treatment (effect size > 0.36) and displayed greater improvement in maximum protrusion degree and lateral length values (p < 0.05). Additionally, we found that patient perception of deformity, posture, psychological life quality, and treatment satisfaction scores were significantly better in Group 2 (p < 0.05). Owing to the satisfaction and additional benefits observed in the physiotherapy group, we think that a proper cardiopulmonary and musculoskeletal exercise program should be applied concurrently with brace treatment for patients with PC deformity. Nevertheless, long-term outcomes need to be clarified in future studies.