Vertebral body tethering offered for scoliosis treatment

USA Health is the first health system in Alabama to offer a surgical treatment for children with scoliosis that allows the spine to remain flexible and continue to grow. The procedure, called vertebral body tethering, is an alternative to spinal fusion for some children who have not finished growing.

“Kids with idiopathic scoliosis who have growth remaining are the ideal candidates,” said Tyler McDonald, M.D., a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon at USA Health. “The idea behind the procedure is to harness the growth remaining in the growth plates of each vertebral body.”

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Idiopathic scoliosis, the most common type of scoliosis, is an abnormal curvature of the spine not due to some other underlying disease. Many children or teens diagnosed with mild scoliosis do not require medical treatment or may need a brace to keep the curve from worsening. For severe cases, the main treatment has been spinal fusion, in which surgeons insert rods and screws to hold the spine in a straighter position.

McDonald said that vertebral body tethering, introduced as an alternative to spinal fusion about 10 years ago, allows for greater mobility and flexibility in the spine.

During the procedure, an orthopaedic lege of Surgeons. To achieve voluntary accreditation, a rectal center must demonstrate compliance with the NAPRC standards addressing program management, clinical services, and quality improvement for patients. Centers are required to establish a multidisciplinary rectal cancer as the gastroenterologist’s ever-vigilant second observer with a sensitivity rate per lesion of 99.7%. Studies have shown that AI-assisted colonoscopy can increase polyp detection rates, and every 1% increase in adenoma detection rate reduces the risk of colorectal cancer by 3%. Colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer diagnosed in the U.S., with almost 150,000 new cases every year. surgeon and general surgeon work together to make small incisions in the side of a patient’s chest, and use instruments and a camera to install screws in each vertebra along the spine. The screws are then connected by a flexible cord, or tether. As the child grows, tension in the tether slows the growth on the convex side of the curve, allowing growth on the concave side to catch up. team that includes clinical representatives from surgery, pathology, radiology, radiation oncology and medical oncology.

USA Health is focused on meeting the medical needs of the community by providing its expert staff with the latest technologies and procedures. The GI Genius module is the first and only AI system for detection of colonic polyps in the United States.

“The idea is to grow out of scoliosis or into an improvement in the scoliosis,” said McDonald, who is also an assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Whiddon College of Medicine.

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