In the clinic, we often see parents with their children asking, “My child’s chest is sunken (bulging), is it a calcium deficiency? Can you prescribe some calcium tablets for my child?” This has been a misconception of many people (including some doctors) that the deformity of a child’s chest wall (bulge, depression or both) is not caused by “calcium deficiency”, but is called “congenital chest wall deformity” by thoracic surgeons. Let’s get to know this type of disease! Congenital chest wall deformity (funnel chest, chicken chest): Congenital chest wall deformity (funnel chest, chicken chest) refers to a congenital thoracic deformity in which the lower part of the sternum is sunken inward or bulged outward, and the rib cartilage on both sides is also sunken inward or bulged outward, forming an appearance like a funnel or chicken chest. Congenital chest wall deformity (funnel chest, chicken chest) accounts for more than 90% of all chest wall deformities, and the incidence of congenital chest wall deformity (funnel chest, chicken chest) in China is 1-4%, with a male to female ratio of about 4:1, more in the south than in the north. The cause of congenital chest wall deformity (funnel chest, chicken chest) is still unclear, it is generally believed to be a congenital developmental abnormality, some scholars believe that it is caused by overgrowth of the rib cage, the overgrown rib cartilage bends backward or bulges forward, causing the chest wall to depress or bulge to form a funnel chest or chicken chest. Chest wall deformities squeeze the vital organs of the chest cavity, resulting in restricted growth of the thoracic organs (heart and lungs), which is usually mild at birth and becomes very pronounced during adolescence with growth and development. More severe chest wall malformations may cause restrictive or obstructive airway lesions, incomplete right bundle branch conduction block, and mitral valve prolapse. Congenital chest wall anomalies may not only have physiological effects, but may even affect the psychological health of the patient. According to incomplete statistics, children with chest wall deformities suffer from varying degrees of self-esteem damage and, in severe cases, develop psychological isolation. It is precisely this psychological impact that parents of children with congenital chest wall deformities are most likely to ignore! Treatment methods: The traditional treatment methods for congenital chest wall deformity include rib cartilage removal, thoracic rib osteotomy, osteotomy with external fixation, osteotomy with internal fixation, reversal method and external fixation without osteotomy, etc. However, the traditional surgical methods all require cutting and removing rib cartilage, which is traumatic, bleeding and prone to recurrence after surgery. At present, the most advanced “minimally invasive funnel chest orthopedics (Nuss procedure) and minimally invasive pectus excavatum orthopedics (sternal subsidence procedure)” only require a 2cm incision on both sides of the patient’s chest wall to correct the deformity and then fix it with a special plate. The operation is less traumatic (no rib cutting), less bleeding (5-10ml), shorter time (30-40min), faster postoperative recovery, no incision in the anterior chest, and beautiful appearance, which is an internationally accepted surgical method. In recent years, in order to further reduce the pain of patients in the perioperative period, we have adopted the “non-tracheal intubation” anesthesia method, combined with our unique single-hole thoracoscopic technology, which makes the operation more minimally invasive.