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Posterior-only surgical correction with heavy halo-femoral traction for the treatment of extremely severe and rigid adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (> 130°)

  • Orthopaedic Surgery
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Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

The treatment of extremely severe and rigid spinal deformities was a great surgical challenge. Pulmonary impairment often occurred, which increased the challenges to already daunting surgical approaches. The present study was performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of posterior-only surgical correction with heavy halo-femoral traction (HFT) for the treatment of extremely severe and rigid adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) of more than 130°.

Materials and methods

From 2010 to 2017, 11 patients suffered from extremely severe and rigid AIS of more than 130° underwent posterior-only surgical correction with HFT. The preoperative mean coronal Cobb angle of major curve was 139.01° ± 5.83°, and the mean flexibility was 17.21% ± 3.33%; the mean angle of thoracic kyphosis (TK) and lumbar lordosis (LL) were 65.02° ± 7.21° and 39.05° ± 4.08°, respectively; the mean trunk shift (TS) and sagittal vertical axis (SVA) were 3.3 ± 0.97 cm and 3.97 ± 1.16 cm, respectively; moreover, the percent forced vital capacity (FVC%) and percent forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1%) were 50.08% ± 6.07% and 53.46% ± 5.96%, respectively; the mean body height and weight were 140.09 ± 4.95 cm and 37 ± 4.34 kg, respectively.

Results

The mean duration of surgery was 335.91 ± 48.31 min and blood loss was 1590 ± 520.1 ml. The average period of follow-up was 32.18 ± 8.17 months. After heavy HFT, the mean coronal Cobb angle of major curve was reduced to 82.98° ± 6.91° with correction rate of 40.39%. After posterior-only surgical correction, the mean coronal Cobb angle was further reduced to 51.17° ± 5.4° with correction rate of 63.27%. The postoperative mean TK, LL, TS and SVA were improved to 23.85° ± 5.14°, 44.95° ± 2.26°, 1.32 ± 0.72 cm and 1.42 ± 0.83 cm, respectively. At the final follow-up, the corrective loss rate of Cobb angle was only 0.72%; moreover, the mean FVC% and FEV1% were increased to 65.45% ± 5.29% and 69.08% ± 5.32% with improvement of 15.36% and 15.62%, respectively; the mean body height and weight were increased to 154.45 ± 5.32 cm and 45 ± 4.02 kg with improvement of 14.36 cm and 8 kg, respectively. The spinal cord function was stable, and there were no new neurological symptoms after correction.

Conclusions

Posterior-only surgical correction with heavy HFT could be safe and effective for the treatment of extremely severe and rigid AIS of more than 130° in reducing the incidence of complications and greatly improving curve correction.

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Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Funding

The study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (NO. 2020JJ4873) and key research and development program of Hunan Province, China (NO. 2017SK2062). The funding bodies had no role in the design of the study or in collection, analysis, interpretation or presentation of data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Spine Surgery and Orthopaedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China

    Hong-Qi Zhang, Ang Deng, Chao-Feng Guo, Ming-Xing Tang & Emmanuel Alonge

  2. National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Xiangya Road 87, Changsha, 410008, China

    Hong-Qi Zhang, Ang Deng, Chao-Feng Guo, Ming-Xing Tang & Emmanuel Alonge

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  1. Hong-Qi Zhang
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  2. Ang Deng
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  3. Chao-Feng Guo
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  4. Ming-Xing Tang
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  5. Emmanuel Alonge
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Contributions

HQZ was involved in critical revision of the manuscript, statistical expertise and performing most of the analyses presented in the paper. AD was involved in study design, data analysis and interpretation, writing the manuscript and critical revision of the manuscript. CFG was involved in data collection, preliminary data analysis and interpretation, critical revision of the manuscript and statistical expertise. MXT was involved in study conception and design, data analysis and interpretation, writing the manuscript, critical revision of the manuscript, supervision and administrative support. EA was involved in study conception and design, data collection, development of data collection instruments and critical revision of the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ang Deng.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The Ethics Committee in Xiangya Hospital of Central South University approved the study. All methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations. Written informed consent was acquired from each of the patients (or their parents and legal guardians) to authorize treatment, imageology findings, and photographic documentation. The patients (or their parents and legal guardians) consented to the publication of their pictures as well as their anonymous and clustered data.

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Zhang, HQ., Deng, A., Guo, CF. et al. Posterior-only surgical correction with heavy halo-femoral traction for the treatment of extremely severe and rigid adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (> 130°). Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 142, 1317–1324 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-020-03720-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-020-03720-z

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