Possible Surgery Complications

[Shari]

Hi Hdugger,

I have to say that your posts have confused me in a few ways. I have read it 3 times now, nd still don't know where you're coming from. I'm sure it's just me.

Could you explain it more clearly for this dumb hillbilly???
Shari

[Shari]

I read your link this time... I'm just curious about the imbalance part.

My Dr. put me on 2 scales, one for each foot, told to look straight forward, and it showed that I was carrying 10% more of my weight on my left leg.

I asked him it that would cause me problems, and he told me that my body would adjust for that. Is this not the case???

It looks to me that I am standing straight,
Shari

[titaniumed]

sagittal and coronal imbalance

Shari

Sounds like a coronal imbalance issue. Scroll down to pg 67 and 68. If you are not balanced left to right, that would explain why the scale readings are not equal.
With a "plumb line" running right down the center, the readings should be equal.
It seems likely that your body would correct itself as long as it isnt severe, and 10% doesn’t sound severe. Time will tell.

http://books.google.com/books?id=cZu...alance&f=false
==========================================

Sagittal imbalance definition. (looking from the side) This is leaning either forward or backward.

http://www.spineuniverse.com/conditi...ttal-imbalance

Scroll down to figure 7 for plumb line pic.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...26tbs%3Disch:1

Hd
You know that I was in a similar situation as your son. Uninsured for years...... When you are older, you worry about these things. When you are young, you just go for it. "Living on a prayer" by Bon Jovi was my insurance policy years ago. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.
Ed

[Shari]

Thank you very much for the info. I keep asking my Mother and my sisters if I look crooked in anny way to them, they say no. In pre-op pictures I see the shoulder dropped, now I don't. And the surgeon said my head was centered w/ my hips. It baffled me then and now. This is the 1st time I've noticed it brought up here.

Shari

[LindaRacine]

A new paper on complications in older individuals undergoing scoliosis surgery:

Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2010 Aug 26. [Epub ahead of print]
Functional Outcomes and Complications After Primary Spinal Surgery for Scoliosis in Adults Aged Forty Years or Older: A Prospective Study With Minimum Two-Year Follow-up.

Zimmerman RM, Mohamed AS, Skolasky RL, Robinson MD, Kebaish KM.

From the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
Abstract

STUDY DESIGN.: A prospective study. OBJECTIVE.: Our purpose was to evaluate prospectively the complications, clinical outcomes, and self-reported quality of life in a relatively homogenous group of adults aged >/=40 years undergoing primary surgical treatment for scoliosis. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA.: Relatively few reports have examined surgical outcomes in adult patients with scoliosis, especially adults aged >/=40 years, whose outcomes may differ because of more rigid curves and more frequent and severe comorbidities. Although most studies have shown patient benefits despite high complication rates after such surgery, most were retrospective and conducted before the introduction of third-generation instrumentation techniques. METHODS.: We prospectively studied a consecutive series of 35 patients of age >/=40 years (average age, 56.3 years) undergoing primary surgery for scoliosis by one surgeon. Most of our patients (86%) had at least one comorbidity. We collected complete radiographic measurements and Oswestry Disability Index, Short Form 36, and Scoliosis Research Society 22 questionnaires before surgery and at each follow-up, and recorded the number and type of complications. Outcomes were assessed in the context of complications, degree of correction, and procedure characteristics to detect significant (P < 0.05) correlations. RESULTS.: The overall complications rate was 49%; 26% of the patients had a major complication and 31% had a minor one. There were no deaths. Coronal curve correction was 30.8 degrees (61%) on average. There were statistically significant postoperative improvements in Oswestry Disability Index, Short Form 36, and Scoliosis Research Society 22 scores. Patients whose fusions ended at L4 or L5 showed greater improvements in some of the Short Form 36 component scores than patients whose fusions involved the sacrum (P = 0.041). There were no significant differences in outcomes related to presence of complications or operative staging. CONCLUSION.: Adults >/=40 years with symptomatic scoliosis benefit from surgical treatment, despite the high complication rate.

PMID: 20802387 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]