Scoliosis Treatments

"This is the first study to directly compare patients after their treatment was completed," Dr. Armstrong said. "The results were so convincing that we now recommend the dual rods exclusively when treating these patients."

The growing rods program at Rainbow, launched approximately 10 years ago by George H. Thompson, MD, director of Pediatric Orthopaedics, enables young patients with severe spinal deformities to develop more normally as they mature. Growing rods also reduce the adverse affects of spinal deformities on lung development and breathing.

"Our results indicate that the use of growing rods, single or dual, can be beneficial in controlling severe spinal deformities in very young children and allowing for spinal growth," Dr. Thompson said. "At this point, dual rods appear to offer better results than a single rod because of their greater ability to control the spine."

Surgeons begin the growing rods program with patients at about seven or eight years old by attaching adjustable, stainless steel rods to the spine. Growing rods control the deformity and gradually straighten the spine while enabling it to grow as a result of periodic surgeries in which doctors lengthen the rods over several years.Researchers conducted a retrospective study of 28 patients over a period of seven to eight years, including post-treatment, and found that the best patient outcomes were produced by dual growth rods that were lengthened every six months. "In those patients, surgeons did not wait for the deformity to recur before lengthening the rods," Dr. Armstrong said. "What had been the standard of care-lengthening rods only after spinal deformity progressed-has been replaced by a new standard requiring lengthening every six months, regardless of whether the deformity progressed."

Researchers wanted to determine which technique-single rod or dual rods-was most effective in controlling spinal deformity, allowing for spinal growth and limiting the incidence of complications. They concluded that dual rods are stronger than single rods and therefore provide better initial correction and maintenance of correction.

"Many doctors were questioning whether dual rods were superior to a single rod," Dr. Armstrong said. "The evidence from this study strongly suggests that dual rods definitely are the way to go."

Committed to advanced care and advanced caring, University Hospitals Health System offers the region's largest network of primary care physicians, along with outpatient centers and hospitals. The System also includes a network of specialty care physicians, skilled nursing, elder health, rehabilitation and home care services, managed care and insurance programs. For more information