← Neuromuscular Scoliosis: A Guide for Families
The words you may hear, and the published studies behind the figures in this guide.
Glossary
Anaesthesia: medicine given by mask or drip during surgery to keep your child asleep and free of pain.
Bone graft: artificial or donor bone used to help bones join together.
Cerebral palsy: brain and nerve problems caused by brain injury or abnormal development of the brain.
Cobb angle: the measurement of the curve, in degrees, on an X-ray.
Complications: problems that happen because of the surgery or anaesthesia. Some are known to happen sometimes, such as infection or bleeding, and some are unexpected.
Hardware: the metal rods, screws, hooks and wires used to attach the rods to the spine bones.
Ileus: the bowel stops working properly for a time and gets blocked up.
Immune compromise: the body's defence system doesn't work as well as it should, for example in fighting infection.
Junctional kyphosis: a forward curve that worsens alignment at the end of the hardware.
Lung congestion: fluid in the lungs.
Muscular dystrophy: muscle weakness and loss of muscle tissue.
Neuromuscular disease: conditions with muscle weakness or spasticity, such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy.
Neuromuscular scoliosis: an abnormal curve of the spine caused by muscle weakness or spasticity.
Pancreatitis: painful swelling of the pancreas, an organ near the liver and bowel that makes fluids to digest food.
Scoliosis: an abnormal curve of the spine.
Skin ulcers: sores that break the skin and cause painful open areas.
Spasticity: muscles that are too tight.
Spina bifida: the spine does not close all the way around the spinal cord during pregnancy.
Spinal cord injury: damage to the nerves inside the spine.
Spinal fusion surgery: anchors, rods and bone graft are attached to the spine to straighten it and fuse the bones together.
Spinal muscular atrophy: a genetic condition with significant muscle weakness.
Supportive care: comfort care that eases symptoms such as pain or fever, but doesn't treat their cause.
Trunk: the upper body from pelvis to shoulders.
Urinary tract infection: infection in the bladder or kidneys.
References
- Watanabe K, Lenke LG, Daubs MD, et al. Is spine deformity surgery in patients with spastic cerebral palsy truly beneficial? A patient/parent evaluation. Spine. 2009;34(20):2222-32.
- Benson ER, Thomson J, Smith BG, Banta J. Results of morbidity in a consecutive series of patients undergoing spinal fusion for neuromuscular scoliosis. Spine. 1998;23(21):2308-17.
- Murphy NA, Firth S, Jorgenson T, Young PC. Spinal surgery in children with idiopathic and neuromuscular scoliosis. What's the difference? J Pediatr Orthop. 2006;26(2):216-20.
- Szoke G, Lipton G, Miller F, Dabney K. Wound infection after spinal fusion in children with cerebral palsy. J Pediatr Orthop. 1998;18(6):727-33.
- Tsirikos AI, Lipton G, Chang WN, et al. Surgical correction of scoliosis in pediatric patients with cerebral palsy using the unit rod instrumentation. Spine. 2008;33(10):1133-40.
- Barsdorf AI, Sproule DM, Kaufmann P. Scoliosis surgery in children with neuromuscular disease: findings from the US national inpatient sample, 1997-2003. Arch Neurol. 2010;67(2):231-5.
- Comstock C, Leach J, Wenger DR. Scoliosis in total body involvement cerebral palsy: analysis of surgical treatment and parent and caregiver satisfaction. Spine. 1998;23(12):1412-24.
- Bridwell KH, Baldus C, Iffrig TM, et al. Process measures and patient/parent evaluation of surgical management of spinal deformities in patients with progressive flaccid neuromuscular scoliosis (Duchenne's muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy). Spine. 1999;24:1300-9.
- Larsson E, Aaro S, Normelli H, et al. Long-term follow-up of functioning after spinal surgery in patients with neuromuscular scoliosis. Spine. 2005;30(19):2145-52.
- Jones KB, Sponseller PD, Shindle MK, et al. Longitudinal parental perceptions of spinal fusion for neuromuscular spine deformity in patients with totally involved cerebral palsy. J Pediatr Orthop. 2003;23:143-9.