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Fusing smaller curves to save levels?

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  • Fusing smaller curves to save levels?

    There was a testimonial several months ago about a surgeon wanting to fuse a TL curve below the usual threshold. I asked about this and the reason was that the surgeon wanted to fuse earlier in the hope of saving some levels, presumably in the lumbar.

    Here is what I think is another case of that for another TL curve at 44* from our buddy Dr. Hey...

    http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/2010/...44-degree.html
    Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

    No island of sanity.

    Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
    Answer: Medicine


    "We are all African."

  • #2
    This is just the normal surgical trigger level. Some doctors will start thinking about surgery in a progressive curve at forty degrees if there is still growth left.

    Also, it could have been a painful or very disfiguring curve with lots of rotation.

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    • #3
      As far as I can tell, 50* is a usual trigger angle but if a kid has demonstrated progression of a certain rate, the call will be made while the kid is still in the forties. This happened with my one daughter... pulled the trigger while she was in the forties and she was 58* on the table.

      Fifty is the trigger angle our surgeon uses per what he told me. I can only assume it is a common one among other surgeons but I can't know that.

      The other testimonial where the surgeon said he wanted to fuse a curve in the forties was specifically to save levels per the parent, not because his personal trigger angle was 40*.

      I haven't seen a testimonial regarding a pediatric orthopedic surgeon with a trigger angle of less than 50*.
      Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

      No island of sanity.

      Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
      Answer: Medicine


      "We are all African."

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      • #4
        When I was a teen, the trigger angle was 40* at Phoenix Children's Hospital.
        Be happy!
        We don't know what tomorrow brings,
        but we are alive today!

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