Originally posted by hdugger
As for stapling, it can accomplish this, although of course, that’s not the case for everyone.
One example comes to mind (probably because I remain in touch with the mom) of a 12 year-old boy stapled for a 40ish curve. He is now 16 ½ and his curve is in the teens. Mom believes he has already gone through his rapid growth spurt. IMHO, I don’t see how this could have been achieved with bracing (even forgetting the fact that, according to mom, the child would probably not have been overly compliant).
Again, everyone’s results will be different but the above case is far from the only example of this – as I said, it came to mind because I’ve been closely following this child.
In addition, there have been patients whose correction from stapling has held past skeletal maturity. The first patients were 'stapled' about 11 years ago so many are now well past the end of growth.
I certainly cannot say that my son has been ‘cured’ because he still has a good amount of growth remaining. However, to me his case is another example of VBS achieving what bracing could not. My son wore a brace full time for about 3 years as a young child and while it basically held his curve, we saw no improvement at all in his curve. (See my signature for stapling results). I also will never know (although I have strong beliefs) if he would have avoided multiple surgeries (i.e., growing rods) had we stayed the course with bracing.
So, personally, I don’t put bracing and VBS in the same category (again, that’s just MY opinion based on what I’ve seen over the years).
I believe that tethering holds even more promise based on the results so far and the wider patient base that can benefit from it.
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