Management of scoliosis both of these surgical procedures may be needed. The surgery may be done in one or two stages and, on average, takes four to eight hours. Spinal fusion is the most widely performed surgery for scoliosis. In this procedure, bone [either harvested from elsewhere in the body (autograft) or from a donor (allograft)] is grafted to the vertebrae so when they heal, they form one solid bone mass and the vertebral column becomes rigid. This prevents worsening of the curve, at the expense of some spinal movement. This can be performed from the anterior (front) aspect of the spine by
Scoliosis drawn perpendicular to the upper endplate of the uppermost vertebra involved and the lower endplate of the lowest vertebra involved. For people with two curves, Cobb angles are followed for both curves. In some people, lateral-bending X-rays are obtained to assess the flexibility of the curves or the primary and compensatory curves. Congenital and idiopathic scoliosis that develops before the age of 10 is referred to as early-onset scoliosis. Scoliosis that develops after 10 is referred to as adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Screening adolescents without symptoms for scoliosis is of unclear benefit. Scoliosis is defined as a three-dimensional deviation in the