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The Future for Teenagers with Scoliosis
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Posted on: 03/21/2006
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What happens to teenagers who have adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) who don't have surgery to correct the problem? Patients and families must think about the long-term effects of nonoperative care for this condition. The results of this study will help physicians counsel those patients making this treatment decision.
AIS refers to curvature of the spine in children from ages 12 to 19. The cause of the problem is unknown or idiopathic. Data was collected from two groups. Group 1 had been diagnosed with AIS between ages 10 and 20. Group 2 (control group) were matched by age and gender. The control group didn't have AIS.
Questions were asked about psychologic, physical, and social well-being. Other questions looked at daily activity level. Physical, neurologic, and X-ray exams were done on everyone.
The goal was to see what the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is for adults who had AIS and didn't have surgery. Follow-up was from 10 to 60 years. Most of group 1 was early middle-age when this study started.
After analyzing all the data the authors report the following findings:
People with AIS less than 45 degrees do very well in their adult years
without surgery.
People with larger spinal curves (more than 45 degrees) tend to have more back pain than those with smaller curves.
The type of curve doesn't usually predict later pain or disability.
Almost one-third of the patients with AIS had psychologic problems at least once in their lives due to the scoliosis.
There is an impact on the psychologic, physical, and social well-being of patients with AIS. It is more noticeable during the teenage years and less a part of the adult years. In general, HRQOL is quite satisfactory years later for those who have conservative care without surgery.
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References:
Mathias Haefeli, et al. Nonoperative Treatment for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. In Spine. February 1, 2006. Vol. 31. No. 3. Pp. 355-366.
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