Doctors at Apollo Hospitals recently performed a minimally invasive, double curve correction surgery on a 13-year-old girl affected by Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis, an abnormal sideward curvature of the spine. The surgery was performed using the non-fusion anterior scoliosis correction technique, doctors said.
Two years ago, the mother of the girl from Brisbane, Australia, noticed a change in her postures. Initial treatment with bracing had no success, and surgeons advised surgical correction. The family began a worldwide search for surgeons performing non-fusion surgeries and approached Apollo Hospitals, Sajan Hegde, consultant spine surgeon, head of orthopaedics, Apollo Hospitals told reporters on Wednesday.
“Traditional surgery will require insertion of rods. Though the spine is straightened up, it is rigid,” he said. In this, metal implants are attached to the spine and then connected to two rods. These implants would hold the spine in a corrected position until the instrumented segments fuse as a single bone.
He said that the girl had a curve in the upper and lower part of the spine. In non-fusion anterior scoliosis correction technique, the spine deformity is corrected but not fused. “In a few weeks, the girl can get back to school and take part in sports,” he said. He added that they also used special anaesthesia to deflate both the lungs during the surgery. Preetha Reddy, vice chairperson of Apollo Hospitals Group, spoke.
