Peds Ortho Team Publish Multicenter Study in Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics

Providers and researchers from the Pediatric Orthopedics Team at Columbia Orthopedics published a multicenter study in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics. The study titled, “The Association Between the Utilization of Traction and Postoperative Complications Following Growing Rod Instrumentation for Early-onset Scoliosis,” investigated the association between preoperative/intraoperative traction and complications following growth-friendly instrumentation for EOS.

The study, authored by Benjamin D. Roye, MD, MPH; Michael G. Vitale, MD, MPH and researcher Hiroko Matsumoto, PhD; and outside researchers identified patients with EOS who had growth rod instrumentation before 2017 and divided them into preoperative traction group versus no preoperative traction groups. The study also conducted a subgroup analysis to compare intraoperative traction only versus no traction and collected data on postoperative complications from implantation to 2 years post-implantation.

The study found no difference in the number of patients experiencing at least 1 complication in the preoperative halo traction group and no preoperative halo traction group. There were no differences in the incidence of other complications. These results show that intraoperative traction may play a prominent role in preventing hardware-associated complications and return to surgery for patients with EOS, especially for patients with nonidiopathic etiology and hyperkyphosis. The results support the need for Level I studies to characterize the complete benefit and risk profile for the use of traction in surgical intervention for EOS and provide conclusive evidence on supporting or refuting its routine use.

Read the full article here.