Quality of Life Among Patients with Early-Onset Scoliosis Treated with Magnetically Controlled Growing Rods—Early-Term Results

The term “early-onset scoliosis” (EOS) refers to spinal deformities that develop before the age of 10 years. The aim of surgical treatment for EOS is stopping the progression of the curvature, maintaining the correction, ensuring the maximum growth of the vertebrae, and ensuring that the vertebrae remain mobile. Using magnetically controlled growing rods (MCGRs) in the treatment of EOS is intended to protect the patient from the negative effects of repetitive surgeries, increase patient compliance and satisfaction, and increase the speed of return to normal social life. Our aim was to report the early radiological evaluation findings and detect the changes in the quality of life of patients and their parents after the diagnosis of EOS and treatment with MCGRs. We performed a retrospective clinical study (level 4 case series) of 20 patients with a surgical indication for the treatment of EOS. The 20 patients had undergone treatment with MCGRs and lengthening procedures at 3-month intervals from August 2014 to August 2016. The mean patient age at surgery was 7.9 years (range, 4–10 years), and the mean length of follow-up was 14.9 months (range, 6–30 months). The preoperative, early postoperative, and final follow-up radiographs of all patients were obtained. The Cobb angle, thoracic kyphosis, spinal height, thoracic height, sagittal balance, coronal balance, shoulder balance, and pelvic balance were measured from the radiographs. All the patients had undergone preoperative and final follow-up respiratory function tests, and all the patients completed the Early Onset Scoliosis 24-item questionnaire (EOSQ-24). The outcome measures were the Cobb angle, thoracic kyphosis, spinal height, thoracic height, sagittal balance, coronal balance, shoulder balance, and pelvic balance. All the patients had undergone preoperative and final follow-up respiratory function tests, and the parents of every patient completed the Turkish version of the EOSQ-24. The preoperative, early postoperative and final follow-up mean Cobb angles were 56.6° (range, 38°–93°), 30.5° (range, 13°–80°), and 33.5° (range, 14°–86°), respectively. These findings showed statistically significant improvement in the Cobb angle (P < 0.05). The thoracic height was also significantly increased. The preoperative, early postoperative, and final follow-up mean height was 181 mm (range, 123–224 mm), 200 mm (range, 164–245 mm), and 212 mm (range, 167–248 mm), respectively (P < 0.05). The measurements for spinal