Tehran University Medical Journal

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Background: The currently accepted treatment of scoliosis are bracing and surgery. Two-stage anterior and posterior spinal fusion is used to correct scoliosis. It seems that the application of a longitudinal force to the axis of the spinal column as a means of stabilizing by halo traction, may increase the correction of the curve. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of halo traction used between the two stages of corrective surgery, anterior and posterior spinal fusion, on the correction of scoliosis curvature.
Methods: In this randomized clinical trial twelve scoliotic patients, aged from 12-19 years old, were treated by two-stage anterior spinal release and fusion (ASF) and posterior spinal fusion (PSF). The patients were divided in two groups: 6 scoliotic patients without any traction between ASF and PSF surgeries (group A), and 6 scoliotic patients were undergone halo traction for one week between ASF and PSF surgeries (group B). Major curve angle was measured before surgery, one week after ASF and one year after PSF surgeries. Data were collected and analyzed using SPSS v.13.5.
Results: The mean baseline curve angles were 90° (SD=18.70) and 94.17°(SD=28.18) in groups A and B, respectively. Whereas, the mean final curve angles (one year after PSF) were 51.17°(SD=29.59) and 39.17°(23.11) in groups A and B, respectively. Final angle improvement was 46.58% (SD=20.31) in patients without traction and 61.32% (SD=14.02) in patients with halo traction. The major curve angles showed significantly better correction in patients with traction one week after ASF [38.67°(SD=7.86) vs. 25°(SD=6.28), P=0.012]. This difference persisted at the end of the first year after operation. [55°(SD=8.94) vs. 38.83°(SD=11.65), P=0.022].
Conclusion: Application of halo traction between ASF and PSF surgeries may lead to better improvement of the scoliotic curvature and short time application of halo traction decreases possible complications.

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Background: Congenital scoliosis is a developmental disorder defined as a lateral curvature of the spine. Its progressive trend and complications, such as cosmetic problems, pain and pulmonary symptoms, have put scoliosis as an important skeletal deformity that should be corrected. One of the currently accepted methods of treatment is posterior spinal fusion (PSF) that may be performed with or without instrumentation. However, the use of implants in conjunction with PSF in congenital spine deformity has been debated over the past three decades primarily because of increased risk of neurological deficit and implant displacement. The aim of this study was to compare short-term and long-term outcomes of spinal fusion with and without posterior instrumentation in congenital scoliosis.

Methods: In this historical cohort study, 41 patients with congenital scoliosis were recruited. All patients underwent PSF surgery between 1977 and 1996. They were divided into two groups according to the use of instrumentation: 22 congenital scoliotic patients who were treated by PSF without any instrumentation (group A), and 19 instrumented PSF patients (group B). Instrumentation was mostly performed using the Harrington rod. The major curve angle was measured before surgery, two weeks and one year after PSF surgery and at the end of the follow-up period.

Results: The mean baseline curve angles were 66.3° and 69.1° in groups A and B, respectively. The mean Cobb angles one year after PSF were 43.1° and 38.4° in groups A and B, respectively. The mean follow-up period was 8 years (SD=3) and, at the end of this period, the final Cobb angles were 47.3° and 39.4° in groups A and B, respectively. Therefore, the final angle correction was 28.7% in patients without instrumentation and 43% in patients with instrumentation. The mean loss of correction was 5.5% and 4.3% in groups A and B, respectively. The final curve angles was significantly more corrected for those patients in whom instrumentation was used than those without instrumentation (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The treatment of congenital scoliosis can be very challenging despite the benefits of modern surgeries and instrumentation methods. The results of our study demonstrate that the application of an implant with PSF surgery may lead to increased improvement of the scoliotic curvature in the short-term and long-term periods, as well as a decrease in the loss of correction and the rate of reoperation. In addition, the low incidence of complications in our study indicates the safety of the posterior instrumentation for the treatment of congenital scoliosis.