- Home
- About Dr. Bridwell
- Conditions Treated
- Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
- Adult Scoliosis
- Cerebral Palsy
- Congenital Scoliosis
- Degenerative Spondylolisthesis
- Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
- High-grade Spondylolisthesis
- Infantile Idiopathic Scoliosis
- Juvenile Idiopathic Scoliosis
- Kyphosis
- Isthmic Spondylolisthesis
- Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy
- The Spine Team
- Case Library
- Contact
How Dr. Bridwell Treats Kyphosis
Scheuermann's Kyphosis
Posterior Spinal Fusion with Instrumentation: Dr. Bridwell will perform the surgery from the back of the spine; that’s called a posterior approach. He will correct the curve. To help the spine heal in this new position, Dr. Bridwell will use appropriate spinal implants (rods, screws, etc.) to correct the spinal deformity and immobilize the spinal segments as they fuse and heal. Dr. Bridwell uses local bone graft and biologic proteins to enhance the fusion and make it much more likely that the spine will fuse correctly.
Please note: Dr. Bridwell does not take bone graft from the iliac crest of the hip; many other spine surgeons use iliac bone graft, which lengthens recovery time and increases the patient’s pain. Instead, Dr. Bridwell uses local bone graft from the spine. He also has a track record of using safe and effective biologic proteins, another advanced technique that improves the fusion success rate and avoids a lot of pain for the patient.
No Bracing: For Scheuermann’s kyphosis, Dr. Bridwell generally doesn’t have his patients use a brace after surgery.
Occasionally for a patient with Scheuermann's kyphosis, Dr. Bridwell will attempt bracing before trying surgery. He will consider that option is the curve is 60º-80º. However, the results of bracing for kyphosis aren’t quite as good as the results of bracing for scoliosis.
Kyphosis with Sagittal Imbalance
Posterior Spinal Fusion with Instrumentation: Dr. Bridwell will perform the surgery from the back of the spine; that's called a posterior approach. He will correct the curve. To help the spine heal in this new position, Dr. Bridwell will use appropriate spinal implants (rods, screws, etc.) to correct the spinal deformity and immobilize the spinal segments as they fuse and heal. Dr. Bridwell uses local bone graft and biologic proteins to enhance the fusion and make it much more likely that the spine will fuse correctly.
No Bracing: For kyphosis with sagittal imbalance, Dr. Bridwell generally doesn’t have his patients use a brace after surgery.
Congenital Kyphosis
Posterior Spinal Fusion with Instrumentation: Dr. Bridwell will perform the surgery from the back of the spine; that’s called a posterior approach. He will correct the curve. To help the spine heal in this new position, Dr. Bridwell will use appropriate spinal implants (rods, screws, etc.) to correct the spinal deformity and immobilize the spinal segments as they fuse and heal. Dr. Bridwell uses local bone graft and biologic proteins to enhance the fusion and make it much more likely that the spine will fuse correctly.
No Bracing: For congenital kyphosis, Dr. Bridwell generally doesn’t have his patients use a brace after surgery. Before surgery, bracing will not help a patient with congenital kyphosis.