The importance of curve severity, type and instrumentation strategy in the surgical correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: an in silico clinical trial on 64 cases

Abstract Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is a three-dimensional deformity of the spine which is frequently corrected with the implantation of instrumentation with generally good or excellent clinical results; mechanical post-operative complications such as implant loosening and breakage are however...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fabio Galbusera, Andrea Cina, Matteo Panico, Tito Bassani
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: Nature Portfolio 2021
Subjects:
R
Q
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/fa048788a47c4882b5bcdb38668b59c1
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is a three-dimensional deformity of the spine which is frequently corrected with the implantation of instrumentation with generally good or excellent clinical results; mechanical post-operative complications such as implant loosening and breakage are however relatively frequent. The rate of complications is associated with a lack of consensus about the surgical decision-making process; choices about the instrumentation length, the anchoring implants and the degree of correction are indeed mostly based on personal views and previous experience of the surgeon. In this work, we performed an in silico clinical trial on a large number of subjects in order to clarify which factors have the highest importance in determining the risk of complications by quantitatively analysing the mechanical stresses and loads in the instrumentation after the correction maneuvers. The results of the simulations highlighted the fundamental role of the curve severity, also in its three-dimensional aspect, and of the instrumentation strategy, whereas the length of the fixation had a lower importance.