Effectiveness and safety of a modified (rib ends fixed under transverse process) thoracoplasty for rib hump deformity in adults with severe thoracic scoliosis: A retrospective study.

Razor back deformity is one of the most noticeable problems of severe scoliosis. Thoracoplasty has been reported to be a useful approach to correct the rib hump deformity. However, the outcomes of thoracoplasty in patients with severe, rigid, thoracic scoliosis have not yet been evaluated.To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a modified technique of thoracoplasty (rib ends fixed under transverse process) for rib hump deformity in adults with severe thoracic scoliosis and severe pulmonary dysfunction.Patients with severe thoracic scoliosis and severe pulmonary dysfunction who underwent staged surgical strategy including halo-pelvic traction, spinal osteotomy combined with the modified thoracoplasty were included. To avoid paradoxical breathing result from multiple rib resections and enlarge the capacity of thoracis, the ends after rib resection were fixed under transverse process compared with conventional thoracoplasty. Patients were excluded on the basis of pulmonary diseases and inadequate follow-up. Data on deformity correction and pulmonary complications were reviewed. A t test was performed on the pre- and postoperative data of pulmonary function, height of the rib hump deformity, and total lung area.Eighteen patients (5 men and 13 women) with a major thoracic curve of >130° were included. The mean age of patients was 25.3 ±â€Š3.6 years (range, 19-32 years), with an average length of follow-up of 30.2 months. After application of halo-pelvic traction, the mean major thoracic curve decreased from 168.2°â€Š±â€Š14.28° to 97.3°â€Š±â€Š10.75° and the thoracic kyphosis decreased from 159.4°â€Š±â€Š20.60° to 94.8°â€Š±â€Š9.58°. On average, 6.3 (range, 4-8) ribs were resected. The height of the rib hump decreased from 84.6 ±â€Š13.3 to 15.3 ±â€Š3.4 mm. The average predicted forced vital capacity (FVC%) before surgery was 37.2 ±â€Š13.30%, indicative of severe pulmonary impairment, with a small but non-significant improvement in the FVC% at the final follow-up. The mean total lung area increased from 2583.2 ±â€Š501.36 to 2890.1 ±â€Š537.30 mL at the last follow-up. No severe pulmonary complications occurred.Our modified approach to thoracoplasty procedure is effective and safe in correcting a razor back deformity in patients with severe, rigid, scoliosis, and severe pulmonary dysfunction, without causing any significant change in long-term pulmonary function.

Shoulder imbalance treated with scapuloplasty surgery in scoliosis patients: a clinical retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: To discuss the clinical efficacy and safety of scapuloplasty treating the shoulder imbalance in scoliosis patients. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was made on 21 patients who underwent scoliosis corrective surgery combined with scapuloplasty from September 2013 to March 2015. The average follow-up was 31.4 ± 5.3 months (24-42 months). The shoulder vertical difference (SVD), adjusted Constant-Murley score, range of shoulder motion function, Cavendish grade, and the overall satisfaction were compared among the pre-surgery, post-surgery, and the final follow-up periods. RESULTS: The shoulder vertical difference (SVD) significantly decreased at the time of post-surgery and the final follow-up, comparing the score of the pre-surgery. The SVD of all patients were decreased from preoperatively 3.2 ± 1.1 cm to 0.4 ± 0.3 cm, with the Cavendish grade improved to grade 1 at the final follow-up. The adjusted Constant-Murley score and range of shoulder motion function showed no significant difference during the three time periods (p > 0.05). And no severe complications had occurred over 2 years follow-up. CONCLUSION: The scapuloplasty surgery shows to be an effective and safety procedure to improve the shoulder imbalance, cosmetic appearance, and the overall satisfaction in scoliosis patients without impairing the shoulder function, which can be widely applied in clinic.

The valuation of concave-side thoracoplasty on the treatment of extremely severe scoliosis with severe pulmonary dysfunction on the base of halo-pelvic traction.

Extremely severe scoliosis patients, especially main thoracic Cobb' s angle >150°, often have severe thoracic deformity and pulmonary dysfunction, even the scoliosis is reduced by halo-pelvic traction, the improvement of pulmonary function is not satisfactory, the risk of spinal osteotomy in the next stage is still very high and left with obvious thoracic deformity. How to further improve the pulmonary function and appearance of these patients is a difficult problem to be solved.Twenty extremely severe scoliosis patients with severe pulmonary dysfunction who underwent concave-side thoracoplasty in our hospital from September 2014 to September 2017 were included, data of thoracic volume and pulmonary function were collected before and after operation. The pulmonary function value reported was predicted forced vital capacity (FVC%), T-test was used to analyze the changes of the data by the statistical software SPSS21.0.The 20 patient's averaged Cobb's angle of main thoracic was 163° ± 8° at admission and all of them with severe pulmonary dysfunction before concave-side thracoplasty. After operation, the thoracic volume of patients increased by 500.9 ±â€Š222.9 mL, FVC% increased by 8.9% ±â€Š7.5%. Both the difference has statistical significance (P < .01).Concave-side thoracoplasty based on the halo-pelvic traction cannot only enlarge the volume of the concave thoracic cavity, lighten the compression of lung and further improve the pulmonary function of extremely severe scoliosis, but also can strengthen the correction of scoliosis and spinal rotation. Therefore, it is a safe and effective surgical approach.