Anyone know about the operation for scoliosis? The one with the

[FloridaPat]

rods to straighten out the back? I have a friend who's family is trying to get her into the operating room. I've heard none of the operations really work. Anyone have first hand knowledge of how good or bad all these are?

[newcriminal]

1. ouch is the only thing I can think of.

Hope it helps her if she decides to go through with it. I'm sure it will be painful tho.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Actually that's the only treatment for scoliosis that works

it just has better results if it is done early in life like in the teen years. How old is your friend?

[pitohui]

3. it worked very well for my friend

she had it done in the 70s when she was a teen, but she had a v. severe case and was in terrible constant pain and having to wear a back brace pre-surgery

i wouldn't say she became an athlete or anything but it was a huge improvement and she was happy she did it

i would assume that surgical techniques now can only be better

[Iniquitous Bunny]

4. I work frequently with adolescent patients.

I'm assuming you mean a spinal fusion surgery? It involves about week's stay inpatient and it's very painful (usually well-controlled through epidural anesthesia and a patient controlled analgesia device utilizing narcotics within the first 48 hours post-op), but it does work very well for most. I have no idea how this works for adults in treatment/outcome as the kids I work with are generally 12-16 either almost done with growth or just barely done. I would "suspect", it would be more complex for adults, but I'm not experienced with adults so it's merely an opinion.

I did find some links:

http://www.spine.org/articles/spinalfusion.cfm
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=156
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002968.htm

[crimson333]

5. my cousin had it done as a teen

she is now in her late twenties doing well. However, i can't tell what she went through, but it did work

[sg_]

6. I have scoliosis...

spent from birth to ~18 going to hospital because of it. (thank god it was noticable to noone other than myself, got very lucky for a 'moderate to severe' case). I was doing everything in my power to keep out of the operating room !!.

From what I know, the operation they use these days fixes it just fine (not sure about the intracies of it though). A girl i know had it done in January and spent 6 days in hospital afterwards if i remember correct. She was advised not to lift heavy weights and the such for ~6 months aswell, but shes pain free now and back to normal.

If youve any questions, I should be able to answer them from my own experiances.

[FloridaPat]

7. Thanks everyone. Glad to hear everyone had good experiences.

There are alternative methods. I was helping them look into other ways besides surgery. Talked to one fellow today who said the problem is usually caused by a trauma. After tallking with her relatives (she's 14) it seems the trauma might be the aunt that she lives with. It's basically a bad situation.

[Samurai_Writer]

8. I had scoiliosis

I didn't do the surgery. I wore a Milwaukee brace for five years. It cured my scoliosis and I have not had a problem with it since. That was when I was 11-16. I'm 45 now.

[uppityperson]

9. MrUP has scoliosis, used chiropractic & massage to work with it

started out being bent at quite an angle, now is curved but better. They used to use more surgery, but think it might be upswinging again. Make sure your friend gets a second opinion from an unrelated doctor (good advice for most surgeries unless lifethreatening)

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. Some sites for info

And there is a place to ask questions and/or email for more information


http://www.iscoliosis.com/

http://www.scoliosisrx.com/


Two-part from one site:

http://www.scoliosis.org/info.php

http://www.scoliosis.org/resources.php