Abstract
Introduction: Trunk asymmetry has been acknowledged as an important aspect of scoliosis that is difficult to treat. Recent innovations in the surgical management of idiopathic scoliosis have attempted to improve trunk symmetry as well as spine curvature. But there have been few reports in the literature describing the effectiveness of these procedures on trunk alignment. The objective of this study was to determine the long-term changes in spine and trunk alignment after surgery for scoliosis.
Methods and Results: 38 subjects were identified as candidates for this study. Fifteen were lost to follow-up. Of the remaining 23 subjects, 20 (15 female, 5 male; age at surgery 16±5 years) agreed to participate and had posterior-anterior radiographs and surface topography prior to derotational surgery, within six months of surgery, at two years post-operatively and 5-10 years after surgery. Three subjects had anterior instrumentation and 17 had posterior instrumentation. Cobb angles, surface trunk rotations, and cosmetic scores were measured at each visit. A questionnaire assessed back appearance and pain at the 5–10 year follow-up and the results compared to a group who had recently undergone surgery. A paired two tailed Student’s t-test with p=0.01 was used to compare the deformity between visits.
The Cobb angle and cosmetic score improved after surgery; the initial Cobb angle improved to 35±11° (42%). Trunk rotation change was insignificant (p=0.25).
Between the two and seven year reviews, the Cobb angle had significantly increased while the cosmetic score (p=0.07) and surface trunk rotation (p=0.10) were unchanged. The mean back appearance and pain scores were 4.3 for both compared to 4.2 and 4.0 for the control group where 1 is worst and 6 is best.
Imperfect surgical correction of spinal curvature leads to continued changes to spine alignment as well as to cosmesis and trunk alignment, although the increases were not all statistically significant. Responses to the patient questionnaire suggest that these changes are not clinically significant.
Conclusion: Surgery significantly improves trunk symmetry but not trunk rotation. There is mild deterioration of the deformities associated with scoliosis after surgery but these changes do not appear to be clinically significant.
Abstracts prepared by Mr J. Dorgan. Correspondence should be addressed to him at the Royal Liverpool Children’s Hospital, Alder Hey, Eaton Road, Liverpool L12 2AP, UK
President’s Lecture: Natural history and management of Congenital Kyphosis and Kyphoscoliosis M.J. McMaster, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Greg Houghton Lecture: Idiopathic Scoliosis – Alternatives to traditional surgery R.R. Betz, Philadelphia, USA
Instructional Lecture:New thoughts on the treatment of paralytic scoliosis R.R. Betz, Philadelphia, USA
Keynote Lectures: Idiopathic Scoliosis – How to manage the patient R.A. Dickson, Leeds, UK
Concave or convex approach for Kyphoscoliosis J. Dubousset, Paris, France Surgery or bracing for moderate AIS. How long term follow-up studies change your perspective A. Nachemson, Göteborg, Sweden
