Scoliosis Surgery

Today, there have been a lot of technological advancements that have been able to make the various types of surgery a lot easier, and the surgery performed to correct scoliosis is a good example. In the past, patients usually had to undergo a long and drawn-out surgical process, which was followed by the treatment and casting. It also took a couple of months to be able to recover. However, today, though the process of scoliosis surgery is still done over a period of several hours, patients can go home in just a week. Additionally, post-operative bracing would only be required for some kinds of scoliosis surgeries.

Surgery is basically the only method to correct cases of congenital scoliosis. With the other scoliosis types, like adolescent scoliosis or adult scoliosis, surgery is recommended only for the most severe curves. It is used as a last resort, if there is no improvement after the use of braces.

There are doctors who advise surgery for those children and adolescents that have curves of more than 40 degrees. It is also recommended for adults that have similar curves and are experiencing a lot of pain and discomfort.

Surgeons and physicians use various surgical techniques for the treatment of specific types of curves. For instance, the posterior spinal fusion surgery would be the best surgery to use in the rectification of a thoracic curve. On the other hand, the anterior surgery would be best for hip or waist deformities. Posterior spinal fusion is typically used for the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis along with bone grafting and instrumentation. The operation would take around a couple of hours, however the patient could be released in as quick as after a week from the operation and would not have to wear a post-operative brace.

Scoliosis surgery is definitely an effective way to rectify the most severe of the spinal curves as well as prevent it from worsening. Keep in mind, though, that there are a couple of possible complications for this treatment option, including anesthesia-related problems, post-surgery pain, infection, excessive bleeding, loss of mobility and balance, fractures as well as nerve and disc damage.