Scoliosis spine surgery in India at Mumbai

Scoliosis is aterm taken from a Greek word meaning crooked. During the 19th Century physicians thought poor posture was the primary cause of scoliosis. Today many modern techniques are available to treat this crippling deformity. Apollo Hospitals Chennai has been the first in the country to introduce Shape Metal Alloys to treat this problem. We asked Our doctors, Senior Consultant, Orthopedics and Spinal Surgery, Mumbai Hospitals about this new procedure for managing scoliosis. Scoliosis affects a large percentage of population throughout the world. An estimated 7 to 10 million people suffer from scoliosis in United States alone, out of which at least 35,000 are serious enough to warrant surgical intervention. However, the cost of scoliosis treatment is quite formidable in United States and all western countries and thus a large number of children and adults are forced to keep the surgery in abeyance. Surgical treatment of scoliosis is employed if the cure at detection is of greater magnitude (> 40). The aim of surgicalcorrection is to achieve a well-balanced spine in which the patient's head,shoulders and trunk are centered over the pelvis. This is done by using instrumentation to reduce the magnitude of the deformity and obtaining fusion in order to prevent future curve progression.   

The procedure of Scoliosis surgery :

Lumbar spinal fusion has been performed for decades. There are several different techniques that may be used to fuse the spine. There are also different "approaches" your surgeon can take for your procedure.

1) The surgeon may make an incision on your back or neck over the spine. You will be lying face down on a special table. Muscles and tissue are separated to expose the spine.

2) The surgeon may make a cut through one side of your belly (for surgery on your lower back). The surgeon will use tools called retractors to gently separate, hold the soft tissues and blood vessels apart, and have room to work.

3) The surgeon may make the cut on the front of the neck, toward the side.

Can scoliosis bymanaged without surgery?

For curves between 20 to 30 degrees in very young skeletally immature patients, it is standard that a non-surgical treatment is instituted. Bracing has proved to be an effective form of treatment to prevent curve progression in about 80% of the patients in this group. The patients on brace treatment also are observed for curve progression as described before. The main disadvantage of bracing is the patients' compliance, as the brace has to be worn almost for the entire day, on all days till skeletal maturity.

Prognosis for spine surgery:

Spine surgery will often provide full or partial relief of symptoms. Future spine problems are possible for all patients after spine surgery. After spinal fusion, the area that was fused together can no longer move. Therefore, the spinal column above and below the fusion are more likely to be stressed when the spine moves, and have problems later. Also, if you needed more than one kind of back surgery (such as laminectomy and spinal fusion), you may have more of a chance of future problems.