Dr. Klaus Schaarschmidt

I got in touch with Dr. Schaarschmidt after I had done a modified ravitch procedure which resulted in aesthetical and minor fysical complications. The upper part of my chest was still caved in, as wel as a small dent on the right side. During examination he was very confident that he could fix all the problems and convinced me to get a redo surgery as soon as possible because if I wasn't I was going to have major complications later on. No scans were made, he said he didn't need to see them. I arrived in the hospital a day before surgery, as I live in Belgium, not Germany. Surgery was due the next day at 9 am. I came there by myself, had no one with me. 90 % of the nurses didn't speak English. On the day of the surgery, they made me wait until 5 pm, I had to stay sober, nobody seemed to know when the surgery was actually going to happen. Finally they took me to the OR where I had to wait another hour on the surgery bed, literally stressing for my live. They had to puncture my spinal cord three times for the epidural because they didn't do it right. Finally when the doctor was about to get in, the nurse came and get me and told me the doctor already went home and the surgery would continue tomorrow. Again surgery was scheduled at 9 am. Again they kept me waiting until 3 pm. After surgery, I woke up with excruciating pain. They put me in the mid-care unit, in the children section for some reason, in the same room with a newborn crying baby. I asked to be put in another room, they said they didn't have any, obviously I couldn't do a thing, I couldn't even walk. I stayed there for 3 days barely slept because of the pain and the ongoing crying baby. until they moved me to another room. In the end I stayed in the hospital for 12 days. I got 2 new scars, he didn't reopen the old ones like Dr Schaarschmidt said, both are around 15 cm long. But the worst part, he didn't even fix half of the issues he assured me he would fix. On confronting him during the sole time I saw him during those 12 days he said it only looked like that and it would get better once it healed. Of course it didn't, it got worse. A lot worse. I have to admit, the upper part of my chest was very well done, it looked much better than before, the dent was gone for the most part, it looked natural. The dent on the right side on the other hand got bigger. During a full year the lower bar of the 2 he inserted caused a lot of pain, especially during movement, but basically all the time. This took a high toll on my social life and had a big psychological impact. Upon check up Schaarschmidt's first thought was to remove the bars. I asked if it was a possibility that te bar was poorly placed hence causing the pain and if it was possible to replace it with another more well placed bar. I didn't want to come all that way, have three surgeries just to remove the bars after a year so my chest could possibly cave in again. Dr Schaarschmidt said that replaceing the bar could indeed fix the pain caused by it. On year post my third pectus surgery, first one with Dr Schaarschmidt, I got another surgery performed by Schaarschmidt to replace the lower bar. He promised me he would fix the issues he didn't fix the first time. Guess what, same scenario happend again. On the day of the surgery they kept me waiting a full day to tell me the surgery would be postponed to the next day. The surgery took place, again I woke up with a lot of pain, I was coughing blood. No children mid-care this time. The nurses again didn't speak English and were very rude. The beds looked like they were from the 80's, very bad wi-fi which you had to pay for, I didn't feel comfortable at all. I had to stay in the hospital for 10 days. I was in a lot of pain and my chest didn't feel right from the beginning. When I asked the staff if I could see the doctor they always said he would come tomorrow, then it was after the weekend. After waiting for a week or so, they told me he went on a holiday. Without even telling me. I felt really abandoned and lost. There were some other doctors for checkups, but they didn't have the same knowledge about my situation. There was one doctor who was there during surgery who told me the old lower bar was sticking out several centimeters to the side, that's what caused the pain. None of the issues Dr. Schaarschmidt was supposed to fix the first and now the second time were fixed. the coming year I was in an even greater discomfort and pain caused by the lower bar. I had to drop out of University. One year after my Fourth, second with Schaarschmidt, surgery I got the bars taken out by him. And yet again on the day of the surgery he kept me waiting an additional day. More so a patient from New-zealand, who also came in for bar removal, arrived in the hospital on the day my surgery was initially scheduled. He got surgery the next day before me, what he hell? He payed the surgery out of his pocket. Mine was mostly covered by my insurance.It was a couple of thousand euro's cheaper than his. Apparently Dr Schaarschmidt asks more money when you pay for the surgery your self. Again he promised me he would fix the remaining issues I had. For the remaining dent on the right he would either 'undent' it from the inside while removing the bars' (I can't imagine how he would have done that) or he would put a small vertical bar were the dent is. I told him to fix it at all cost because the dent was causing pain and discomfort. I told him explicably to put in the small bar. He said he would. When I woke up, I had slim to no pain. Of course he didn't insert the small vertical bar. The dent on the right remained and got even bigger. I had to stay in the hospital for 5 days. I saw him in his office on the last day after waiting hours in the hallway. I asked him why he didn't insert the small vertical bar like he was going to. He said he didn't think it was necessary and that it was only a small dent. Then he showed me some pictures of his most severe cases and said mine was fine. I felt mad, sad, disappointed. I healed quite quickly. The pain and discomfort from the lower bar was gone. I still had pain and discomfort on the dent on the right side. My chest caved in a little bit. I had physical therapy on a weekly basis and after a year I started lifting weights. That really helped reducing the pain a lot. Instead of 5 days a week with pain, after some months of going to the gym 3 times a week, got me to 1 or 2 days a week with pain. I've been doing that for a year and a half now. When I don't hit the gym for a couple of days my chest starts to hurt more. So in a way it's a good motivation, and a pleasant side effect is that I look good. It took me some time to write this review. I wanted to wait things out, see how it would evolve. We are now nearly 3 years after my bars were removed. This whole journey of 6 surgeries was horrifying and traumatic. I'm still experiencing more pain and discomfort than I ever had before my very first surgery. I think Schaarschimdt can deliver good results, but with me, except from the upper chest on which I think he did a really good job, in overal experience he did not. I am very very disappointed in how he communicated, how he was so convinced and promised he would fix all the issues and when he didn't he merely said it wasn't necessary anymore and that there were more severe cases than me. Come on. He ignored my e-mails I send him after bar removal, asking him tips on what to do. I wonder how long I am going to be able to bare this discomfort in my chest. I contacted Dr Pilegaard and Dr Jaroszewski right after my bar removal. Pilegaard said he didn't want to perform surgey because he wans't sure if he could help me, on which I appreciate his honesty. Dr Jaroszewski said she couldn't help me. So yeah, for now with going to the gym I can suppress most of the pain, but sometimes I wonder if there is a future for me where I can be completely pain free. If you're getting into this, get a good doctor, and ask yourself if you need surgery in the first place. I would recommend seeing Dr Pilegaard in Denmark, his results look stunning, hospital seemed really nice, and he is a genuine guy. I wish you all the best luck.

Briek

As a 45 year old patient with severe PE I looked for the most experienced surgeon to help me. The two bars were implanted in Sept 2016 and removed in April 2019. The goal was no cosmetic. It was to improve my quality of life. It did. Massively. It solved my orthostatic intolerance. Even though it was a bumpy process due to pain, which was expected, I always felt I was in good hands. Prof Schaarschmidt's team is very dedicated and kind. Surgery is always stressful especially in an unknown environment like a foreign country, but I found it manageable. I do not regret my choice, quite the opposite. Prof Schaarschmidt was the right person for me. Over the years I had lost confidence in the medical profession, but when I first talked to Prof Schaarschmidt I felt I could trust him.
If you are an unusual case (due to age or severity) I would recommend asking Prof Schaarschmidt's opinion. Even if you consider another surgeon his opinion could be very useful. Don't forget you have only one shot with this kind of surgery as redos are so difficult or even impossible. So make sure you make the right choice.

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.

I had surgery exactly 4 weeks ago at age 38. You can tell from my age I‘ve come a long way: after develoging 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 6-8 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 stopping and quite often feel dizziness during the days I had gone running before. Of course, these experiences also leave a mental mark, especially when knowing the heart visually beats against the sternum. 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.
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 I quickly made progress. Look at your recovery as a marathon you really want to win – it‘ll help you to 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 spend some time 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 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) 4 days ago. It‘s great!
What did the surgery do for me? Apart from the obvious bliss of looking normal (Prof. Schaarschmidt did an awesome job) 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.

In my opinion Prof. Dr. Klaus Schaarschmidt is an incredible surgeon and a GREAT person, funny, yet professional and he always seem to be in the hospital, his team were also great.

My result score of 9 is not a reflection of the professor but of the results of the first surgery that I am hoping I can push back over the coming year and get an even better result...... I so wish I had seen the Professor first, at least I can pass my experience on via this site so you don't make the same mistake.

My Nuss operation was a do over, the professor removed someone elses short bars..... The bars had been in for almost 3 years, this surgery should not have been done, my result for my surgery now is not as good as it could have been if I had come to Germany and seen the professor first I am sure of this. After my 3 years with bars in from my first surgery I was getting pain in the section the bars attached to my chest. The bars were too short to remove a dent as wide as mine, if you are attaching bars inside a dent then you are never going to get that dent out...... These short bars were explained to me after I had showered and was awaiting the surgeon to go into theater. I paid extra money to have a specailist involved in the surgery in a very expensive part of London 2 nuss surgeons, so I had to go private to have this happen, zero insurance could be used............ I should have come to Germany FIRST.

Do yourself a Favour come here first!!! Don't go else where as I did and then end up here trying to have the Professor fix someone elses mistakes, ESP if you are older. Give yourself the best chance for a great result. Looking at the various forums see where everyone ends up to have thier incorrect Nuss surgeries sorted out, there is a reason, Prof. Schaarschmidt record speak for itself.

The professor was so nice to me and my mother who came with me, the hospital is great, super clean, great friendly staff, lovely grounds too.

my haller index value is wrong I don't know what it was so please ignore that info if looking thanks