Scoliosis is a fairly common spine condition that affects an estimated 7 million people in the United States of America. Symptoms can range from minor to severe, depending on the severity of the curvature of the spine. While most cases may not require treatment or non invasive methods, such as a brace, scoliosis surgery is the best course of action for very deformed spines.
The surgery done is called spinal fusion. It is the process of fusing two or more vertebrae together. This is usually done using either bone or metal rods. Scoliosis surgery is recommended for patients that are affected with a spine curvature of more than 40 degrees (measured with the Cobb’s angle.)
A spinal fusion usually involves metal rods and hooks attached to the spine to keep the vertebrae securely aligned. With time, a portion of the spine will fuse together. The metal rods are left in, even after the spine fuses, to avoid having to perform another surgery.
Implanting fixed rods to the spine can be a problem in children with severe scoliosis because their spine will continue to grow, while the rods will not. To potentially solve this issue, surgeons are testing a new method involving “growing rods”, which allow the surgeon to make periodic adjustments to accommodate the growth of the spine in the future.
This is a very aggressive type of spine surgery. A spinal fusion procedure can take up to 12 hours to complete the surgery. It requires a lengthy recovery period of about a week in a hospital before you can be released. Physical activities are severely limited and restricted in the months following the surgery. Generally, it will take about 6 months before a doctor will allow the patient to continue all physical activities.
Because of its invasive nature, scoliosis surgery can result in many complications. A spinal fusion can stunt the growth in the area it is done. This might be a problem for certain areas of the spine in children who still can grow more. Additionally, possible bleeding, infection, nerve damage, arthritis and disc degeneration can happen in the hands of an inexperienced surgeon. A second surgery may be needed if the first one is ineffective.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 3:54 am and is filed under Scoliosis Surgery, Scoliosis Treatment Options. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
[...] future and allow for people to better assess spine curvature progression and to discuss possible scoliosis treatment options earlier. var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname="ScoliScore"; [...]