Vertebral body tethering may be an option for scoliosis in skeletally immature patients
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Vertebral body tethering has a high success rate, a lower revision rate than previously reported and avoids posterior spinal fusion in adolescent patients with severe scoliosis, according to published results.
Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine included 29 pediatric patients who were treated with anterior vertebral body tethering (VBT) for progressive scoliosis in a clinical and radiographic retrospective review with a minimum 2-year follow-up.
The patients (mean age of 12.7 years) were analyzed for Lenke classication, Cobb angle measurements of the proximal thoracic, main thoracic and lumbar curves, the sagittal prole and skeletal maturity, according to the study.
“Successful outcomes were dened by a residual curve of [equal to or less than] 30° in skeletally mature patients who did not undergo a posterior spinal fusion (PSF),” the researchers wrote in the study.
Of the 27 patients who reached skeletal maturity by the latest follow-up, 20 (74%) exhibited a curve angle of equal to or less than 30°. From the entire cohort, two patients underwent PSF and six patients (21%) underwent revision surgery.
“Although our patient population was slightly more mature than previous postoperative follow-up studies and exhibited multiple scoliotic curve types, we report a 74% success rate and a lower revision rate than those in previous studies”, the researchers concluded. “A PSF was avoided in 93% of patients, indicating that VBT may be a viable option for the surgical treatment of scoliosis, given the appropriate indications, they added.
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