ABSTRACT

Shoulder imbalance is a common undesirable effect of correcting thoracic curve in surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. However, unless it is severe, shoulder imbalance does not cause patient dissatisfaction.

Fusion was obtained in all patients. On radiography, mean first rib angle was 2.5º±2.8º, shoulder height was 6.0±5.4 mm, and clavicle angle was 1.7º±1.5º. The mean values for SRS- 22r domain scores were between 3.3 and 3.8, being lowest for mental health and highest for pain and self-image. There was no significant correlation between radiographic parameters and total or domain scores of SRS-22r.

Twenty-three patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (18 females, 5 males; mean age, 15.9 years; age range, 13-24 years), who were treated by posterior instrumentation and fusion and followed up for an average of 35.4 months (range, 24-67 months) postoperatively, were included in this retrospective clinical study. In order to evaluated shoulder balance on coronal plane, three parameters were measured on postoperative radiography: first rib angle, radiographical shoulder height, and clavicle angle. For the assessment of patients’ satisfaction with scoliosis surgery, Scoliosis Research Society (SRS)-22r Patient Questionnaire was used.

We aimed to evaluate whether there is a relation between the level of shoulder imbalance after scoliosis surgery and patients’ satisfaction with treatment.