A life-changing procedure using magnets is showing great promise for Colorado children with scoliosis.
Children with severe cases have rods implanted into their torso to control the curvature of their spines and prop up their chests.
As children grow, those rods need to grow with them. Every six months they must endure surgery in which doctors open them up and manually extend the rods. Recovery can be tough, and there is always a risk for infection, as is the case with any surgery.
Now, there is new technology that can keep these kids out of the operating room.
"This is just really a blessing to have this available to us now," Heather Viano said.
Viano's 10-year-old son Ryan has scoliosis that was brought on by Spinal Muscular Atrophy, an inherited neurological disorder where his nerves are unable to control his muscle function.
"This is a progressive disorder where you start losing the strength of your muscles ... the muscles that help you walk, the muscles that help you use your arms, and the chest muscles that help you breathe," Dr. Sumeet Garg, a spine specialist and orthopedic surgeon with Children's Hospital Colorado, said.
In May, Ryan became the first patient at Children's Colorado to have new magnetic rods bracketed onto his spine.
At an office visit every four months, a hand-held magnetized device will be placed on his back. The magnetic field causes the magnet inside the implanted rods to spin. As the magnet spins, the rods expand.
At Ryan's first appointment in which the magnetic technology was put to the test, the two rods were lengthened by a fifth of an inch, which is the amount Dr. Garg had planned.
"It is a total shift in how we take care of kids with scoliosis," Dr. Garg said. "It's still a very big decision to implant these rods in a child, but you can feel good knowing you can do the expansions in the office. You're not making a patient go into the operating room multiple times during childhood."
Before his first magnetic lengthening session, Ryan was nervous. This was something new for him.
The tingling sensation he felt from the hand-held device was startling at first but didn't last.
The entire rod lengthening procedure only lasted five minutes.
"To be able to do something like this in the office with him awake is remarkable," Dr. Garg said. "There is no risk of infection like there would be with surgery. He doesn't have anesthesia that can compromise his lung function. So, it's really wonderful for him and for us to be able to do this in the office."
"Having this done in a five-minute period is quite nice," Heather said. "There is no wait time afterward, no pain meds, no recovery and no missing school. It's going to be a big difference for us."
Dr. Garg said the magnetic rods in Ryan's back can be fully extended to two inches over the next three to four years. This will alleviate the need for Ryan to have seven surgeries.
"Thumbs up," Ryan said with a big, confident smile.
"I'm so anxious to see what else they come up with," Heather said. "This is just one of the many things I'm sure that will be in his future."
The MAGEC (MAGnetic Expansion Control) Spinal Bracing technology was developed by Ellipse out of California.
Source: 9News.com , 9th September 2015
Source: 9News.com , 9th September 2015
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