Keep it straight, say spine docs : Pune

When 17-year-old Swati Billary from Akola began to have severe problems walking and urinating at the age of 12, doctors diagnosed her with 40 per cent scoliosis — a condition in which aperson’s spine is curved. She was put on medication, exercises and had to wear braces, but this troika seemed to have no effect, as the scoliosis progressed to a severe 98 per cent curve.

Swati (down), who is now recuperating at Sancheti Hospital, had a 98 per cent curvature on her spine, necessitating surgery. After two rods and 22 screws were inserted into her spine on Saturday, the teen now has a straight back

It was then, five years later, that Swati was referred to Pune’s Sancheti Hospital for specialised treatment, and advised to undergo surgery. On Saturday, Swati underwent a six-hour scoliosis correction surgery, in which two rods and 22 screws were inserted into her spine to straighten it.

Her father Tanaji Billary said, “At 12, Swati could not walk even half a kilometre without breathing hard, and experienced many other problems. We were advised surgery, which cost around Rs 2 lakh. Now Swati’s spine is only 4-5 per cent curved and it is under control.

Finally there is relief for my daughter.” Medical experts say that out of all patients diagnosed with scoliosis, common in a small percentage of adolescents, only 50 per cent require surgery. However, early detection prevents surgery, and surgical results are becoming increasingly satisfactory, with awareness rising among parents, doctors and teachers.

Dr Ketan Khurjekar, head of the Spine department at Sancheti Hospital, who conducted Swati’s surgery, said, “Three to four per cent of all adolescents are found to have some form of scoliosis or the other. Most are girls — it is four times more common in girls than boys — and the extremity of the curvature is more progressive.

There is a genetic pre-disposition in some adolescents for it; several cases have been observed in consanguineous marriages.” He added, “Around five years ago, around 80 per cent of patients came in late and needed surgery. Today, only around 40-50 per cent need surgery due to early intervention. In 2012, we saw at least 160 patients for this condition, out of which 85 required surgery.”

Dr Rajesh Parasnis, spine surgeon at the Oyster & Pearl Hospital, said, “The ideal age for surgery depends on premenarchal status, type of curve, degree and severity of spinal deformity. Broadly, 12-16 years is ideal for surgery, as curves are flexible and skeletal maturity is around the corner. Curves less than 15-20 degrees are observed for a while.

Curves between 20-40 degrees require bracing to prevent further progression, and those beyond need surgery.” Dr Jaydev Panchwagh, a neuro and spine surgeon at the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, said, “Last year, I saw around 20 patients, of which only 30 per cent needed surgery. Early signs can be noticed by pediatricians. Increased awareness in the medical fraternity is helping it get getting detected at an early stage.

For very small children, plaster techniques and body molded jackets called braces or corsets are good options. Even if surgery is required, it should be done early on to attain maximum results.”

Scoliosis surgery involves the insertion of special surgical implants like rods, hooks, screws, and wires. The goal is to straighten and balance the spine and secure it in place, so that curve progression stops before skeletal maturity is reached.

Source : Pune Mirror ( 22nd April 2013 ) 

SCOLIOTIC IMBALANACES AND ROTATIONS !

Source : SchrothMethod

YOGA AND SCOLIOSIS : DO AND DON'T

 

Source :schrothmethodschrothmethodschrothmethodSchrothMethod schrothmethodschrothmethSchrothod

MIRACLE SCOLIOSIS !

Teenager grows FIVE INCHES overnight after operation to straighten the crooked spine that was killing him

 

 

• Harvey Legge, 14, was suffering from scoliosis, or curvature of the spine
• At a 90 degree angle, bend was so severe it was crushing his vital organs
• Operation saw him grow from 4'10" to 5'3" and curve reduce to 20 degrees

A teenager has grown an incredible five inches overnight after an operation to straighten his spine.
Harvey Legge, 14, was suffering from scoliosis, or curvature of the spine - and the bend was so severe it was crushing his vital organs.
He was referred to a paediatrician at Sheffield Children’s hospital who said his case was so severe he would have to have surgery.
The operation saw him grow five inches overnight, taking him from 4'10" to 5'3". His spine has gone from being at a 90 degree angle, to just a 20 degree angle.

Twisted: Harvey Legge, 14, was suffering from scoliosis, or curvature of the spine. The bend was so severe it was crushing his vital organs

His mother Claire Walker, 39, said: ‘It really is wonderful to see. He now stands as tall as me - he literally grew five inches overnight after the operation once surgeons had straightened out his spine.
‘To see the X-rays of his spine before and after the operation really is remarkable. The surgeons have done a wonderful job.’
Mrs Walker, from Holton Le Clay, Lincolnshire, said: ‘It was a shock when he was first diagnosed with it.

 

'I’d noticed that his rib cage didn’t look level when he bent down, but I had no idea that it was anything as serious as scoliosis.
‘When I was told he would have to have surgery to correct it, I was devastated. But I knew that it was the only option for him.


‘The bend in his spine was so severe that it was crushing all his organs. His rib cage was banging on his hip and he used the other hip as a shelf to rest his arm. He couldn’t walk very far because he was so twisted.’

The operation saw him grow five inches overnight, taking him from 4'10" to 5'3". His spine has gone from being at a 90 degree angle, to just a 20 degree angle.

Doctors decided that because Harvey's case was so severe, they couldn’t wait any longer to operate on him. 

Mrs Walker said: ‘We knew that he was very young to have this operation and it was nerve-wracking, but there was no choice.

‘Two months previously we had been on holiday to Italy and while we were sat around the pool, people were watching Harvey with their jaws dropping open. He was very conscious about what he looked like, too.’

Doctors warned the couple that there was a risk of paralysis with the operation, but they knew it was Harvey’s only chance as he was being suffocated by his own spine.

But complications from the operation left surgeons fearing Harvey was brain dead after he lost his entire body’s worth of blood. He has since made a full recovery 

The eight hour operation was carried out in November 2011 at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where doctors put titanium rods either side of his spine to straighten it.
But complications from the operation left surgeons fearing he was brain dead after he lost his entire body’s worth of blood and his brain shut down.

Mrs Walker said: 'It was terrifying when he lost so much blood - we thought we were going to lose him. Harvey spent nine days recovering in hospital, and then a further three months recovering at home. 

Mrs Walker added: ‘It was so amazing when he stood up and he was so much taller. He had always been the smallest in his class and now he is of average height which is great.

Standing tall: Harvey with his mother Clare and surgeon Ashley Cole. He had always been the smallest in his class but is now of average height

‘He can now do contact sports and he can run too. He won’t grow any more, but it is fantastic that he is now so much taller than he was.

Ashley Cole, the consultant spinal surgeon who performed Harvey’s operation said: ‘It was a huge success and Harvey has recovered fantastically well.

‘We had to do the surgery much sooner with Harvey than many other children because his condition was progressing at such a fast rate.’


Source : Daily Mail , UK ( 12th feb 2013 ) 

Risk Factors ID’d for Massive Blood Loss in Scoliosis Surgery

For patients undergoing scoliosis surgery, the risk of massive blood loss is increased with preoperative Cobb angles bigger than 50 degrees and for those undergoing osteotomy or fusion of more than six levels, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of Spine.
 

 For patients undergoing scoliosis surgery, the risk of massive blood loss is increased with preoperative Cobb angles bigger than 50 degrees and for those undergoing osteotomy or fusion of more than six levels, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of Spine.

  

Include pre-op Cobb angle larger than 50 degrees, osteotomy, or fusion of more than six levels 




Xuerong Yu, M.D., from Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, and colleagues retrospectively analyzed data from patients undergoing scoliosis surgery, from June 1, 2011 to Oct. 31, 2011, based on their classification as having lost more than 30 percent of estimated blood volume (group A; 95 patients) and those who lost 30 percent or less of their blood volume (group B; 64 patients). Total blood loss was defined as the sum of intraoperative and postoperative estimated blood loss.

The researchers found that 59.7 percent of the patients had massive blood loss. There were significant differences between the groups with patients in group A shorter, with larger preoperative Cobb angles, more levels fused, and more osteotomies than patients in group B. Independent risk factors for massive blood loss included preoperative Cobb angle of more than 50 degrees (odds ratio [OR], 2.47), more than six levels fused (OR, 3.70), and osteotomy (OR, 4.64).
"In conclusion, patients with preoperative Cobb angle larger than 50 degrees or patients planning to undergo osteotomy or fusion of more than six levels have an increased risk of massive blood loss," write the authors. "This may contribute to an improved use of blood conservation strategy."

Source : Doctors Lounge ( 8th march 2013 )

Shalimar boy undergoes two surgeries to fix scoliosis

 

Tanner Dubose had to wear a halo before the first of his two surgeries. 

The first time Bill Dubose remembers his son Tanner showing him a lump on the left shoulder blade was about three years ago.
It wasn’t hurting his then 9-year-old son or keeping him from doing anything, so Dubose suggested they watch it and bring it up at his next doctor’s visit.
Just in the last six months the lump quickly worsened into life-threatening scoliosis. Tanner had a 127-degree curve in his spine that endangered his heart and lungs.
When a local doctor deemed Tanner’s case too severe for him to fix, his family in Shalimar began looking elsewhere.
“It crossed his mind that maybe no one could do anything,” Dubose said from Shriners Hospitals for Children in St. Louis, where Tanner has undergone two surgeries to straighten his spine. “I was devastated inside.”
Dubose and now 11-year-old Tanner have been at the hospital since January.
His first surgery Feb. 28 was the preparation for the second, more complicated one, Dubose said.
During the second surgery Thursday, part of Tanner’s vertebrae was removed and rods and plates were attached to the rest of his spine. Surgery on scoliosis as severe as Tanner’s is rare, so it was watched by more than 100 doctors through a live feed to an auditorium.
In six months to a year, Tanner’s spine and the equipment will fuse together. For now, Tanner won’t be able to lift more than 5 pounds for about a month.
“He’s going to get proficient in video games and homework,” his father joked.
Tanner will get a souvenir, however.
He’s taking home his “halo,” a horseshoe shaped piece of metal that was screwed to his skull for about two months before the surgeries. Weights were attached to the halo through a pulley system to help start straightening his spine and prepare him for the operations.
The only time Tanner went without the halo and weights was when he took a shower. Tanner’s always been a good sleeper, Dubose said, so only some extra fluffy pillows were needed.
“I think he’s grown a few inches,” Dubose said. “I think he has gotten straighter and not hunched over as much.”
Tanner said the halo hurt for about the first week, but then it became normal.
“I hardly noticed it,” he said.
Tanner walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes with the halo weights two times a day, five days a week before the surgeries. His perseverance inspired his father to work on his own health.
“If my son, who’s in this condition, can do this, I can do it,” Dubose said.
Tanner is taking it all in stride. In some ways, he is older than his 11 years, his father said.
“He likes normal kid stuff, but he also wakes up to watch The Weather Channel to learn how to prepare for that day,” he said.
Tanner was nervous when he first learned about the upcoming surgeries. And it’s been hard to be in St. Louis without his mom and three sisters, he said.
There is no timetable for him and his father to come home.
When Tanner does return, “I’ll go visit my friends and spend time with my family. Just do whatever I did before,” he said.


Source : nwf daily news 

Rare Kyphoscoliosis spine surgery performed in Tirupur

The Tirupur-based Revathi Medical Centre has claimed to have performed a rare surgery to correct Kyphoscoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine, on a 23-year-old woman M.Manimeghalai who hails from The Nilgiris district. 

The surgery that lasted 12 hours was performed by spine surgery team comprising Gurusamy Nachimuthu, K. Dhanasekar, R. Raja and R. Eswaramurthi. 

Mr. Eswaramurthi, managing director of Revathi Medical Centre, told reporters that the deformity to the spine of the girl was found progressing over the period and she had severe pain that restricted her movements.

“She has been admitted to the hospital with twisted spine, short trunk and early myelopathy (ie nerve dysfunctions),” he said. The surgery was performed only after briefing the patient as well as her parents of the risks in the surgery like its long duration, possibilities of paralysis and massive blood loss.

Post surgery, the spine curvature of the girl has returned to near normal range. The patient, according to the hospital sources, can return to normal activities after six months. 

“If patient has come at an earlier stage, the magnitude of the surgery could have been much lesser,” Dr. Eswaramurthi said. 

Source : The Hindu , Tirupur , 7th March 2013