Surgical Treatment of the Paralytic Scoliosis

Cho, Se Hyun; Suk, Se Il; Choy, Won Sik

Abstract

Paralytic scoliosis is a disease characterized by its long severe curve and the continuous progression of the deformity even after cessation of growth. It is also resistent to conservative treatment and more patients require surgical treatment than those with idiopathic or congenital curvature. Patients suffer from marked limitation of normal activities in walking and sitting due to imbalanced paralysis of trunk muscles and pelvic obliquity. The indication for the conservative treatment with Milwaukee brace allowing for skeletal growth in a straight alignment is much limited and surgical correction and fusion are almost always indicated even in a young age. This paper was aimed to review our experience with ninteen patients with paralytic scoliosis who were treated with various methods of preoperative corrections and surgery from Jan. 1970 to Dec. 1981 and the following results were obtained. 1. The average age when scoliosis was observed was 7.7 years but the average age of surgery was deferred to 17.7 years. 2. No treatment had been done until most of the patients could no longer maintain balanced posture in sitting and walking due to collapsing spine and marked pelvic obliquity. 3. The causes of paralysis were poliomyelitis in 15 cases, meningocele in two, cerebral palsy and Charcots disease in each one. 4. Preoperative average degree of scoliosis was 107.8° and the final correction was 47.9°(44.4%) with loss of correction 3.6° (3.4%) after 5.6 years of follow-up in average. 5. The more severe the curve was, the more flail was the spine and the more correction could be obtained. 6. Preoperative correction was performed for 16 cases and Harrington instrumentation and posterior fusion were performed for all cases except one meningocele with defect of posterior element in which Dwyer instrumentation was indicated. 7. Breakage of Harrington rod was observed in two cases 1.3 and 3.8 years postoperatively but no problem arose from it in seven and two years of follow-up respectively. 8. Significant pelvic obliquity was observed in seven cases, which were treated by Harrington instrumentation with sacral bar or sacral hook and posterior fusion extended to sacrum.