
Originally Posted by
tonibunny
I'm a bit confused by this:
"Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis is a curving of the spine. The spine curves away from the middle or sideway. If the curvature is severe, bracing and surgery may be necessary. Currently rods and screws are placed on the spine during surgery to slowly restore the spine to a normal position. The repair takes years and involves as many as eight operations to adjust the rods to the desired configuration. This can be a very painful process for the child and in some cases the results are anything but acceptable. Currently there are approximately 33,000 children who undergo the surgery in the US alone."
Surgery for AIS usually involves just one surgery (or two surgeries done within days of each other, if a 2-stage procedure is being performed) and that's it. Repeated procedures are not to be expected. What seems to be being described here sounds more like standard growth rod surgery, which is generally used for children who have infantile or juvenile scoliosis, or in occasional cases of AIS in which the child still has a lot of growth left.
I suspect that whoever wrote the blurb for the website has made a mistake, rather than Dr Harrison being unaware of this. I'd imagine that he has designed these for use in younger children.
Magnetic growth rods have actually already begun to be used in London, at Great Ormond Street Hospital. I am not sure who they are designed/manufactured by.