32 screws to tighten vertical and horizontal bars to straighten the spine for 11-year-old girls

09/04/2022 07:27 GMT+7

An 11-year-old girl in Dong Nai has just been operated by doctors at Children’s Hospital of Ho Chi Minh City.

The patient has scoliosis, gradually over the years, seriously affecting the daily life, physical activity, and learning of the child.

The patient’s family said that the symptoms were severe, the back pain was numb, the baby could not bear it. Unresponsive medical treatment, unsatisfactory waiting time, immediate surgical consultation. After half a month of surgery, the baby sat upright reading stories, watching the phone refreshingly.

Dr. Dau The Canh, Dr. Nguyen Duong Phi, and Dr. Tran Nguyen Nhat quickly consulted and gave me a complete curve.

Doctors said that making the decision to have spine surgery is never an easy task, many factors have to be weighed because the surgery changes the patient’s life later and always carries many potential risks.

Photograph of a girl’s spine.

Doctors used a system of 1 horizontal bar, 2 vertical bars, 32 blocking screws and super-strong thread strips to reconstruct and fix the patient’s spine shape.

After surgery, the patient will coordinate with physical therapy to gradually bend and stretch to the fullest extent, practice all kinds of rotation, still not dislocate and hurt as before.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dinh Ngoc Son, Head of Spine Surgery Department, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital said: Congenital scoliosis occurs when the vertebrae are incompletely completed during fetal development.

This type of scoliosis can have very diverse symptoms, from mild symptoms to severe, life-threatening symptoms.

Because the spine develops at the same time as other organs of the body during the first weeks of pregnancy, many children with congenital scoliosis are accompanied by defects of the bladder, kidneys, nervous system, and cardiovascular system.

Although congenital scoliosis has a fetal cause, symptoms may not be apparent soon after birth.

Usually, a child’s symptoms will clear up as the child grows. Common symptoms include: unequal shoulders; 2 hips do not equal each other; the head is not centered relative to the body; When the child bends forward, the back will be unequal on both sides.

Children with congenital scoliosis may have other symptoms, for example: Unusual patches of hair or skin pigmentation, lumps on the ribs or on the back. Pain, muscle twitching of the lower extremities. Hands and feet deformities, difficulty hearing, bladder sphincter disorders (urinary retention, enuresis).

Dr. Son said that the treatment of congenital scoliosis depends on the age and severity of the scoliosis curve. Some children have small crooked corners, mild symptoms can be treated with periodic monitoring. If the curve is greatly increased, the child’s growth rate may need surgical treatment. Braces have little effect on congenital scoliosis.

Regarding treatment, depending on the age, degree of curvature and the rate of progression of curvature, the doctor will prescribe appropriate treatment for the child’s disease. Growth brace: Apply to young children (usually under 10).

The doctor will place screws and splints that can be stretched according to the growth of the child. Every 6 -12 months, the child will have a splint, depending on the doctor’s follow-up visit. It is possible to cut half of the deformed body, correct the deformity with a screw brace.

K.Chi