Dr. Klaus Schaarschmidt

I had a NUSS redo with Prof. Dr. Klaus Schaarschmidt my first one was not very successful (but according to my surgeon was alright) so I get in touch with Prof. Dr. Dr. Schaarschmidt again to speak what could be done ... And I after one unsuccessful operation and the fact that I have to pay for my op this time and it is in foreign country makes me very anxious . But meeting him in person discussing the options possibilities and outcome and everything that could come to my mind makes me regret that I did not manage to go with him from the first time ...
His knowledge and experience is flawless and he was the only one who manage to see how the things are and how it should be and manage to do it (honestly I am 34 at this time and I was discussing the problem since I was 13 with doctors from 4 different countries) and from what he told to me makes perfect sense ...

So After my discussion with him we set up a date I done the payment and proceed with Operation ...
After operation I spent few days in intensive care where my pains and discomfort was handled better than expected ...Honestly I receive so many injections and did not felt even a slight discomfort ... I have not imagine that it is possible to be in a hospital full with skillful Stuff ...

About my recovery I am really impressed I never ever dreamed that it could be so fast and smooth so far I can say you can measure it with minutes and hours and days ... I will give you an example if I feel something difficult to do on my physiotherapie in the morning by noon I can do it and in the evening I was able to do it freely ...

With my hospital stay I was pushed to do physiotherapie and lots of breathing exercises which helped me to expand my lungs to the newspace and I was reaching more and more volume after every time I was exercising ... with therapie after the operation it speed up my recovery even more ...

Now about my look ...It looks good no it looks awesome better than expected now my chest muscles looks bigger and by that I mean 2 times more longer and wider ... my Sternum looks in place with nothing more and nothing less my voice become much more dense, powerful and relaxed (before I was sounding like I am nervous or angry at you) which makes a lot of difference when you speak with people ...

My first operation was done by two top surgeons and my second was done by Prof. Dr. Dr. Schaarschmidt and if I have to recommend someone it will be him because: His knowledge , experience , Very Important My RECOVERY TIME and Availability (I was manage to see him almost every day and he held me use the devices to exercise my lungs the right way )

So If you are looking for this type of operation you better go with him from the first time it makes a lot of difference to have it done the right way and to be back to your normal life as soon as possible

probably will ad pictures in future when I have more time and if you have any questions feel free to ask

Correspondence was extremely easy prior to surgery... and good after surgery. Regarding explanations, and maybe this is my fault, but I never truly understood what he was going to do and what my outcome would be. I guess since he has performed so many Nuss procedures he would know exactly what to do with me to give me the best possible outcome. Most everything I heard was you'll have excellent result. For what it's worth.....I had my procedure re-done with another surgeon 7 months later. My outcome, visually was a little better, my haller index went from around a 4.1 (cant remember exactly) to a 3.2. Pain was constant until I had my re-do. This pain was due to 1. I should have had more bars for my age as the pressure on the one bar was significant and 2. I had a bar tip rubbing between two ribs. Both of these and my haller index were all improved with second surgery. My overall experience with this surgeon was not good and I cannot personally recommend.

My original Nuss was performed at the Mayo Clinic by Dr. J, fantastic results with the chest. I also give her and the Mayo Clinic 10/10. However Dr J was unable to correct the rib flare during the Nuss as well as during bar removal. I tried several braces to remedy the situation unsuccessfully like most people. I decided to email Dr. Schaarschmidt and pick his brain and responded very promptly with a detailed explanation of his planned procedure as well as cost and expected hospital stay. For anyone who is having difficulty getting your insurance to cover one of the fine American ones like Dr j, I highly recommend looking into Dr Schaar in Germany because the operation is about 1/10 of the cost that it would be in America...anyway on to the procedure!

Overall dr schaarschmidt is a very skilled and experienced surgeon for all pectus related procedures and he is clearly very passionate about what he does. He is very easy to reach via email. From what Dr Schaarschmidt described it sounds like he removed segments of defective cartilage and sutured the ends where the segments were removed together, closing the gap that was created. I am still currently recovering and am very swollen so I can't really speak for the cosmetic appearance quite yet, but it looks promising. Pain is not nearly comparable to the nuss, never required iv narcotics and after about 3 days I didn't need pain killers at all. Should be able to fly home once the last drainage tube is removed with no problems. My advice would be just to get the ribs and chest fixed at the same time and save yourself a 2nd procedure if possible, the nuss is already very painful, can't imagine the rib correction makes it significantly worse.

As for the hospital it's a bit outdated compared to the state of art mayo clinic. But they have everything you need here. Some of the nurses and hospital workers don't speak much English, which i expected. They are also not quite as agressive with pain medicine here in Germany, however I'm not so sure you need it. the TV is all in German, so I was pretty bored but that's really my only minor complaint. But They are very nice and hospitable and they will let you stay a bit longer if you ask. Dr Schaar frequently checks on you as well.

Overall I give my experience an A+ and if I remember I'll be back with updates as far as the cosmetic appearance goes!

A life changing experience that I can happily talk about.
I developed pectus excavatum at the age of 12 and I noticed it when I was 14. That was the moment I started to worry about my physical apperance.
For 4 years I tried to fix my PE without a surgery.
Hundreds of hours of swimming and gym sessions didn’t make any difference. At 18 years old I started considering the surgery. I found on the internet that Dr  Schaarschmidt
was one of the best surgeons who dealt with PE.
I’ve sent an email asking for details, got a response the next day. After a few emails I was sure about my decision to do the surgery and to trust Dr. Schaarschmidt with it.
I came to Berlin, met Dr. Schaarschimdt, he explained to me the whole procedure. The next day I had the operation done.
Postoperatory period was difficult, I won't deny it, but the surgery result was impeccable. Dr. Schaarschmidt was available and with precise answers to all the questions that appeared in that time and in those two years that followed the first surgery. He found time to answer to all my emails, to give me answers and advice. Then the time has come for the second surgery, which dr Schaarschmidt performed, and despite my fear, the result remained impeccable. Thank you for your professionalism and for the way you care for your patients.

I had surgery 4.5 weeks ago at age 38. You can tell from my age I‘ve come a long way: after developing p.e. at age 13 I initially wanted to get surgery at age 17 but was of course discouraged by the Ravitch procedure that I was offered. Since I didn‘t have any issues (I remained physically active and even studied sports science with a daily exercise routine of about 4-8 hours in my 20s) I decided against surgery. Time went by and even though I had never been at peace with the way I looked I stopped thinking about my chest that much.
At age 33/34 I remember clearly I had my first moment of dizziness during workout while doing some reverse butterflies – I guess because of the pressure that particular exercise puts on the chest. My exercise tolerance started declining, sometimes I would be feeling pretty much okay, sometimes I had to stop after 10 minutes. When jogging I would feel strong fatigue after finishing and quite often feel dizziness during the days I had gone running before. Of course, these experiences also left a mental mark, especially when knowing the heart visually beats against the sternum and is somewhat restricted in its activity. My self-confidence decreased and I went through a period of 1-2 years where I wouldn‘t really do any sports. At age 36 I started again and took things a little more easy. That pretty much worked, but I was nowhere near the point I had been a couple years ago. Also, riding a bike turned out to stress my body most, with my heart beating the crap out of me during the first 500 meters and fits of dizziness whenever I stopped (e.g. at traffic lights).
I finally decided to do something about my state of health, went to see Prof. Schaarschmidt and agreed on the surgery to be executed a couple of months later (due to work schedule). I thought it was really helpful to have somebody encourage me to undergo the procedure, especially because I was promised the operation would still be okay at my age while I was already entering an age range that would make things much more difficult in the future.
About the actual procedure: I received one bar on a Wednesday morning. Yes, by now you probably know the first days are an adventure of its own. After surgery, the drugs didn‘t really do what they were suppossed to and I felt nauseous and rather weak all the time. The peridural didn‘t do anything for me (apart from numbing my legs all the way down to the ankle) so all I could do was wait, do my breathing exercises and start walking. I was able to get up on day 1 after the operation, on day 2 I managed to walk approximately 200m. I did my breathing exercises almost every hour (as recommended by Prof. Schaarschmidt and the staff) and quickly made progress. Look at your recovery as a marathon you really want to win – it‘ll help you summon the energy it takes to make your body follow your will again.
By day 6 I could already walk around quite normally and took walks outside of about 45 minutes (afterwards I crashed my bed for 10-15 minutes). On day 8 I was allowed to go back home (I felt really good and - apart from receiving some painkillers from time to time - there wasn‘t really any use in staying). Of course that was only possible because I live in the proximity of the hospital. On day 12 I returned to have my stitches removed.
By day 9 I rode my bicycle again, I think around day 14 I went jogging for the first time. By day 15 I started going to the gym to do some workout on ergometers (e.g. the rowing machine) and, I can assure you, each time I went I made progress – same will happen to you!
Today, 4.5 weeks after surgery, I still wake up once or twice during the night. This is not due to pain but rather to feeling uncomfortable - the pressure on the chest grows throughout the night. However, I barely feel the bar anymore. I stopped taking the minor doses of ibuprofen I was still on (2x200mg/ day) about 1.5 weeks ago. It‘s great!
What did the surgery do for me? Apart from the obvious bliss of looking normal I have no problems with dizziness anymore and I just feel more energetic. Yesterday I had an extended bike trip of about 2 hours at a fairly high speed and felt like I could be going longer.
Prof. Schaarschmidt did an awesome job, for which I would like to cordially thank him! His experience and precision during the procedure most certainly allowed my quick recovery. All nurses also were a great help in getting to feel better and were also quite experienced with the Nuss. I never felt like my questions were left unanswered.
It was a life-changing decision and if you feel like your p.e. is giving you a hard time I would like to encourage you to think about getting the help that is available to you.