ABSTRACT

Many different etiologies may cause progressive spinal deformities that are grouped together as earlyonset scoliosis, including infantile and juvenile idiopathic scoliosis, congenital scoliosis, neuromuscular scoliosis, and various syndromes. After development of the spinal instrumentation system, the dual rod method was described by McCarthy and developed and popularized by Akbarnia and Marks. The goal of the growing rod technique is to achieve correction of the deformity, and to maintain it during the treatment period while allowing spinal growth. The growing rod system for the treatment of earlyonset scoliosis is preferred for cases with a curve greater than 45° and patients younger than 10 years of age.