Teenagers who undergo spine fusion surgery to treat the spinal injury seen in scoliosis can expect to be doing well ten years after the surgery, according to new research.
Scientists had predicted that the surgery would cause damage to the spine below the fused discs, but a Hospital for Special Surgery study, published online in journal Spine, showed that this did not occur.
It was also found that the patients had good functional scores and maintenance of balance and no participants reported lower back pain.
Study leader Daniel Green said: "Fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis using the newer generation spine implants appears to spare junctional disc degeneration and allows patients ten years out to have a relatively normal pain free lifestyle."
However, scientists from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine recently found that people who have spinal fusion surgery are left worse off than those who opt for more conservative treatment methods.
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Posted by Paul Breen
