Congenital Scoliosis: Multiple congenital deformities, correction gave the patient an additional 4” of trunk height

Description

The patient was 11 years old when she came to Dr. Bridwell. She’d been born with multiple deformities, including scoliosis. She couldn’t stand up straight. Her left ear rested on her left shoulder and her right rib cage rested on her right pelvis because her spine curved so much.

At a very young age, she’d had a convex fusion from T2 to T7. (The ‘T’ stands for thoracic spine, which is the mid-back. The number refers to the different vertebral levels, so T2 is the second vertebral level.) However, in spite of that fusion, the deformity had progressed.

When she came to see Dr. Bridwell, her cervicothoracic curve was bigger than 100º.

Treatment

Dr. Bridwell approached this patient’s treatment in two stages. First, he used halo wheelchair and halo walker traction. The idea of halo traction is to gradually pull the spine in an attempt to partially correct the curves. Dr. Bridwell used this treatment option because this patient’s curve was so severe, especially in her cervical spine (neck); he wanted to try to reduce it before performing a posterior spinal fusion. During her time in halo wheelchair and halo walker traction, the patient was able to sit, stand, and walk.

The second stage of the surgery was the posterior spinal fusion. Dr. Bridwell inserted pedicle screws in the thoracic and lumbar spines. He attached rods to those screws; the screws and rods held and stabilized the spine while the bones healed and fused.

Result

Immediately following surgery, the patient was four inches taller because Dr. Bridwell had corrected her curve so much. She is now back to playing soccer again.