An insight into early onset of scoliosis: new update information — A review

A.M. Alsiddiky

Research Chair of Spinal Deformities, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. alsiddiky@hotmail.com

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• Orthopedics

Early-onset scoliosis is an onerous challenge to physicians. These patients are young with significant remaining growth potential. Thus, patients are likely to develop progressive deformities, cosmetic disfigurement and cardiopulmonary consequences warrant early intervention in many cases. The purpose of this review is to provide the readers with brief description of the disease, therapeutic modalities available and their indications and use. Publications and abstracts related to EOS in the last decade were carried out and synthesized into a review “an insight into early onset of scoliosis.” A comprehensive understanding of the scoliosis, its impact on the thoracic development may guide in treatment, which is often required at a young age in these children to prevent irreversible pulmonary insufficiency. Current treatment techniques are based on multiple factors may include non-surgical strategies, such as Derotational body cast or brace in younger patients with curve <50 degrees. Surgical treatment of spinal deformity should be considered when nonoperative measures are failed to arrest curve progression. Growing rods have been the mainstay treatment of early-onset scoliosis which require repeated surgeries for distraction and are associated with exponential increase in complications. The vertical expandable prosthetic titanium rib may be beneficial for those patients with congenital scoliosis and fused ribs and thoracic insufficiency syndrome. Shilla technique is an alternative to growing rods that avoids the morbidity of repeated lengthening. Growth modulation using staples or tethers shows promise for milder curvatures, but further follow-up is needed to define their use. Although new technologies have improved the treatment of children with EOS but it continues to be challenging with high complication rates.

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