Early Onset Scoliosis

Abstract

This chapter presents a clinical scenario of a two-year-old boy with syndromic scoliosis. The resurgence of serial casting as a viable treatment option for early onset scoliosis (EOS) is one of the greatest changes in the past decade for the management of early onset spinal deformity. Management of EOS remains a challenging problem for the pediatric orthopedic surgeon. Magnetically controlled growing rods (MCGRs) have revolutionized the management of EOS, as they provide noninvasive spine lengthening, allowing for more frequent and smaller distractions to better mimic normal physiological growth. Traditional growing rods (TGRs) have previously been the gold standard for the treatment of EOS with abundant evidence supporting their use in preventing curve progression and allowing physiological spine growth. As growth-friendly surgery is utilized to promote spine growth for children with EOS, it is important to know whether normal spine growth is achieved utilizing these techniques.