A study published in Spine compared patient, parent and surgeon preoperative concerns prior to posterior spinal fusion to treat adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
Here are five things to know:
1. Researchers surveyed 48 patients and parents and four attending pediatric spine surgeons. The patients' mean age was 14.2 years old and their mean level of concern was 4.6 out of a maximum 10. Meanwhile, parents' mean level of concern of 6.9 out of 10.
2. On a scale of difficulty between zero and 10, surgeons rated the procedure's complexity at a 5.2 mean.
3. Patients' top three concerns were:
- Pain (25 percent)
- Ability to return to activities (21 percent)
- Neurologic injury (17 percent)
4. Parents' top three concerns were:
- Pain (35 percent)
- Neurologic injury (21 percent)
- Amount of correction (17 percent)
5. Surgeons' top three concerns were:
- Postoperative shoulder balance (44 percent)
- Neurologic injury (27 percent)
- LIV selection (27 percent)
6. The researchers concluded that patients and parents' biggest concern was pain while surgeons rarely listed it as a concern. Patients and parents' levels of concern didn’t correlate to the surgeon's perception of the procedure's complexity. Neurological injury was the only top issue concerning all groups.
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