Spinal fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis yielded high return to sport rates
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Results showed patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who were released to unrestricted activity at 4 to 8 weeks after posterior spinal fusion had high return to sport rates with a rapid return to baseline performance levels.
In a single-center, prospective study, Tyler Tetreault, MD, and colleagues from Children’s Hospital Colorado analyzed 26 patients (mean age of 14.8 years) who underwent posterior spinal fusion (PSF) surgery for treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) between April 1, 2018, and Sept. 30, 2019. Among the patients, 61.5% (n = 16) participated in a non-contact or limited-contact sport at a varsity or junior varsity level. The most common sports were swimming, baseball/softball, volleyball and soccer.
According to the study, all patients were cleared to self-progress to full activity without restrictions after their first postoperative visit, which was 4 to 8 weeks after surgery. Outcome measures were collected at 1 year after surgery and included patient-reported return to sport, return to baseline performance, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System physical activity scores, pain interference scores, depression and surgical complications.
Overall, the median time to return to sport was 2.7 months. At 1 year, 90.1% of patients (n = 24) reported a return to their presurgical level of play. Researchers noted participation in a contact sport was associated with a longer return to sport compared with patients who participated in a non-contact or limited-contact sport. They also noted that conditioning and flexibility were the most common barriers when attempting to return to sport. No major complications were reported; however, the researchers found a “significant increase” in the odds of symptomatic depression in the first year after surgery.
“We have found that athletes are eager to return to sport much earlier than 3 months,” the researchers wrote in the study. “Based on personal experience and evidence that pedicle screw constructs have low rates of revision and pseudarthrosis, we believe it is safe to resume unrestricted sport after 1 [to] 2 months following PSF for AIS,” they concluded.
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