Questions

[Guest guest]

My son is 18 and had T10 - L2 fusion when he was 16. His curves before

surgery were 42/44 and progression fairly rapidly. Only the lower curve was

fused

and the upper compensatory curve went to 22 after surgery so his curves were

22/0. Everything looked great!

Since then the upper curve has continued to progress though it seemed to hold

at 33 degrees for over a year - he has also continued to curve slightly above

and below the rod and the fusion isn't solid at the lower end. Yesterday,

at his annual checkup, that upper curve has progressed to 38 degrees. I wasn't

too surprised because I had noticed his shoulder tilt had become more

obvious and he has been having some shoulder pain. He is to go back in a year -

if

it has continued to progress he may need further surgery, he would have

posterior surgery fusing and implanting a rod from the thoracic curve to his

existing rod.

My questions are:

Is it almost inevitable that he will need this surgery - if that is the

case it seems that it would be better to proceed within a year or so while he

is still young and while he is still covered by my insurance.

If it stays at 38 degrees, will it progress anyway over time just due to

the forces of gravity if not from his scoliosis itself?

What are the mobility limitations with a longer rod - he has no

noticeable loss of mobility with his current rod - is there significant loss of

mobility with a long rod?

The surgeon said he would do posterior - what is the latest info on

endoscopic surgery for thoracic curves?

What is the latest info on stapling and would that be an option?

Thank you all very much - I am a faithful follower of the postings and could

not have survived this scoliosis ordeal without all of you.