Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis exceeding 70°: A single unit surgical experience

BACKGROUND: Correction of severe scoliosis is challenging despite continued innovation in correction techniques and instrumentation. To our knowledge, no article focuses on the correction of severe scoliosis by the technique known as Simultaneous Translation on 2 Rods (ST2R). Our purpose is to report coronal and sagittal results after the ST2R correction technique associated with various adjuvant procedures in the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis curves exceeding 70° and to assess if adjuvant procedures improve final correction. METHODS: Twenty-nine adolescents with major idiopathic curve exceeding 70° with a minimum of 2 years of followup were prospectively included. Correction of major curve, thoracic kyphosis and lumbar lordosis were evaluated postoperatively and at last follow-up. RESULTS: Major curve was corrected from mean value of 84° to 24° at 1 month postoperative and was stable over time. At the last control, all patients presented a normal kyphosis. Adjunction of anterior release did not improve coronal or sagittal correction (P>0.2). CONCLUSIONS: Coronal correction was comparable with the best published results. Final sagittal alignment was better than published data. Adjunction of anterior release seems unnecessary.