In a complex four-and-a-half hour surgery, a severe spinal deformity
of a 14-year-old girl from Anakapalle was completely corrected by
doctors in the city recently. Neeraja, a ninth standard student of a
local government school, had developed a small hump on the right side of
her back a couple of years ago that kept getting progressively worse.
She was diagnosed with a severe case of scoliosis, in which the spine
gets bent to one side, twisting the back into an abnormal shape. While
scoliosis usually affects adolescent girls, one out of 10,000 cases of
the ailment are severe, where there is a large curve of the spine.
Though moderate curvature can be prevented from progressing by wearing
braces, in severe cases the curvature progresses rapidly and needs to be
operated upon early. Large curves also cause respiratory problems later
in life apart from causing fatigue and mental stress due to social
stigma, say doctors.
The curvature of the spine was corrected by inserting 23 titanium
pedicle screws into the vertebrae that were connected to rods, which in
turn were de-rotated to unbend the spine, explained Dr B Leela Prasad,
who along with Dr M Muralimohan and Dr J Naresh Babu operated on Neeraja
on June 30 and kept her under observation for almost a week.
"Bone grafts were also placed to prevent worsening of the deformity in
the future. After the surgery she was kept under observation and made to
sit up and walk from the second day. Follow-up showed that her spine
got back its shape and she can go back to school after a month," said Dr
Leela Prasad.
"I had assumed it was due to the weight of the school bag carried by her. But the size of the hump kept on increasing and she developed an obvious deformity. Neeraja was depressed and confined herself indoors to avoid being made fun of. Local doctors diagnosed it as scoliosis but said this was major surgery that could leave her paralysed for life and advised us to approach doctors in any of the metro cities," said her mother Subhadra.
"We then consulted Dr Leela Prasad, who after examining the patient and reviewing the x-rays suggested surgical correction of the deformity. We were scared that the surgery would cripple her permanently and feared for her life. But Neeraja was brave enough and was determined to get her deformity rectified," said her father Satyanarayana.
Source : TOI , 9th July 2013
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