Orthopaedic Surgeon Questions Orthopedist

Is scoliosis surgery risky?

I will have surgery for scoliosis. Is scoliosis surgery risky?

3 Answers

OrthopaedicSurgeonOrthopedist
Hello and good day. Thanks for sharing your scoliosis question with the FATD community. Please allow me to offer my thoughts, tips and suggestions regarding your question. All surgery is relatively risky. When it involves the spine (neck, mid-back or lower back), it is slightly more risky since there are some crucial structures around the spine (large blood vessels and spinal cord). Scoliosis surgery should be performed by an experienced spine specialist that does these types of surgery often. The construct they create and the fixation is strong and stable. As long as you are a strong person and had a medical clearance, there is low likelihood that you will lose your life as a direct result of scoliosis surgery. At times, if the spine deformity is bad, some of the nerves can get cut or stretched, which can lead to sensory changes and sometimes motor changes (difficulty walking or abnormal feelings), but rarely death. Once the pain subsides, which is different for everyone, you should be able to get out of bed. The longer you are in bed, the more muscle strength and girth is lost. In addition, people in bed for too long get compromised blood circulation and can develop blood clots in the legs. These are dangerous. So, by day one you should be in a chair, and then practice ambulating with assistance by day 1-2. Once the pain is subsiding, I believe in following steps to help you recover to an optimal point. I like to follow these steps: https://www.pop-doc.com/joint-preactive.html Becoming flexible, strong and conditioned is the best way to optimize a surgery like this. Finding a good practice that helps, and then making a routine to preserve good bodily health in your life, will give you a pain-free existence for a long time. I am optimistic that if you follow these suggestions, you will feel better and recover from surgery. I hope this helps. Stay optimistic and trust your surgeon. David T. Neuman, MD FAAOS Sports Medicine and Orthopedics 131 West 33rd St. Suite 12-E New York, NY 10001 P: 212-813-3634 F: 212-857-9411 www.nysportscare.com<http://www.nysportscare.com/> Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail communication and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the designated recipients named above. It may contain confidential and protected health information subject to privacy regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure, dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer.
Yes. Your surgeon is supposed to go over all of this with you. If he does not, you might want to go get a second opinion.
It is a significant surgery and may require a blood transfusion.Overall with a good surgical team any risk is usually low