Retired surgeon honored for Nuss procedure
Donald Nuss, MBChB, Professor Emeritus of Surgery, who developed a procedure at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters now used worldwide to correct chest deformities, was honored Oct. 8 with the highest surgery award given by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Nuss, who also is CHKD Surgeon-in-Chief Emeritus, received the 2022 William E. Ladd Medal at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition in Anaheim, California. The Ladd Medal recognizes pediatric surgeons who have made significant contributions to the field and to the care of children. (Dr. Nuss is pictured above at right.)
Dr. Nuss developed the minimally invasive technique (now known as the Nuss procedure) to correct pectus excavatum, the most common chest wall deformity in children. Also known as funnel chest, the chest sinks in toward the spine, forming a depression. Patients often suffer heart and lung compression, difficulty exercising, and poor body image.
Previously, children had to endure a highly invasive surgery that involved a large incision and fractures of the sternum and ribs. Dr. Nuss developed an alternative procedure in which a curved metal bar is inserted through small incisions on either side of the chest and guided under the flexible ribs and sternum to press them into normal shape over time, just as braces correct crooked teeth. The bar remains in place two to three years until the correction is permanent.
At least 100,000 patients worldwide have been treated with the procedure during the last 25 years.
Dr. Nuss has been a guest lecturer and visiting professor at many major medical centers in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and has been an invited guest speaker at numerous national and international surgical congresses.
Dr. Nuss was born in the Republic of South Africa and graduated with a medical degree from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, in 1963. He completed residency in general surgery at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1971, and a fellowship in pediatric surgery at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town in 1973.
He came to Norfolk in 1977, where he began performing surgery at CHKD. He served on the Medical Executive Committee of CHKD for 25 years and as Surgeon-in-Chief and Vice President for Surgical Affairs for 20 years.
Dr. Nuss and his wife, Tessa, lived in Norfolk for more than 40 years but recently moved to Boise, Idaho, to be near family.