A couple weeks ago we helped a nice young man who had a 55 degree scoliosis when initially diagnosed with scoliosis. He is a very muscular, athletic young man, which in part hid some of his curve, but does emphasize again the importance of scoliosis screenings. Parents and children/adolescents are often a bit upset when they are surprised with a big curve on initial evaluation that needs surgery.
This young gentleman did just great.
His surgical time was 3 hrs 15 minutes.
No blood transfusions, cell saver only.
Was able to stay on regular scoliosis/orthopedic floor with his parents the first and second night without ICU stay.
Went home after 2 nights in the hospital.
His curve was stiff, but we were still able to get good correction.
He will be going back to school soon.
He showered when he got home from hospital.
Lloyd A. Hey, MD MS
http://www.heyclinic.com
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC USA
It has been a busy few weeks @ Hey Clinic, and I am a bit behind on the Blog...sorry for the delay for our many loyal readers!
Here are some preop/postop pictures for a nice young lady named Debbie from North Carolina who had a very painful, and noticable collapsing kyphoscoliosis.
We were fortunate to get an excellent correction, through a posterior-only approach, using multi-level osteotomies to help get a better correction in both the front and side “planes”.
She did very well postoperatively, and is now quite a bit taller. She had a little trouble with postoperative ilius, which is when the intestines stop their normal peristalsis due to swelling, pain medication, lack of movement, and lumbar surgery. Eventually her intestines “woke up”, and she was advanced on her diet and went home very happy, with a whole new posture.
You can help prevent or decrease the duration of ilius by giving yourself a good bowel cleanout prior to surgery, and try to minimize use of narcotics, and ambulate as much as possible after surgery.
Lloyd A. Hey, MD MS
http://www.heyclinic.com
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC USA
