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Study Design: Case control comparative series.Objective: Describe surgical range adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients electing to forgo surgery and compare health-related quality-of-life outcomes to a similar cohort of operated AIS patients by the same single surgeon.Summary Of Background Data: No data have been published either documenting SRS-22r scores of nonoperated patients with curves ≥40° or comparing these scores to a demographically similar operated cohort.Methods: Individuals with curves ≥40°, age ≥18 years, and electing to forgo surgery were identified. All patients completed an SRS-22r questionnaire. This nonoperated cohort's SRS-22r scores were compared to those of a large demographically similar cohort operated by the same surgeon. Group differences between the SRS-22r scores were evaluated by comparing these to published Minimal Clinically Important Differences (MCID) for the SRS-22r.Results: One hundred ninety subjects with nonoperated curves were compared to 166 individuals who underwent surgery. The nonoperated cohort averaged 23.5 years of age, averaged 7.7 years since curve reached 40°, and had an average 50° Cobb angle at last follow-up. No statistical significant differences were found between the groups on the Pain, Function, or Mental Health domains of the SRS-22r. Statistically significant differences in favor of the operative cohort were found for self-image, satisfaction, and total score. The observed group differences did not meet the established thresholds for minimal clinically important differences in any of the domain scores, the average total score, or raw scores.Conclusion: There are no meaningful clinically significant differences in SRS-22r scores at average 8-year follow-up between AIS patients with curves ≥40° treated with or without surgery. These data in conjunction with an absence of long-term evidence of serious medical consequences with nonsurgical management of curves ≥40° should encourage surgeons to reevaluate the benefits of routine surgical care.Level Of Evidence: 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on urban pediatric orthopedic practices. It states that an operating-room computerized database was used for urban pediatric orthopedic practices identification which contains recorded surgical cases. The results shows that trauma surgery approaches 50% of urban pediatric orthopedic practices' surgical workload and 22.1% out of the 1, 605 anesthetic events recorded for 2006 and 2007 involved multiple and bilateral surgeries.

The article discusses a study which aims to evaluate the use of the Lenke and King (L&K) classification systems in the surgical treatment of main thoracic adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. In this study, patients with posterior spinal fusion and dual rod posterior instrumentation were classified according to L&K classification systems. It is concluded that at intermediate follow-up, there is no significant radiographic or patient reported differences.

Background: National data documenting the impact of pediatric trauma in general and of pediatric orthopaedic trauma in particular on the rates of hospital admissions and emergency-room visits have been reported. This study documents the frequency of and work involved in the care of pediatric orthopaedic trauma by a single urban pediatric orthopaedic group practice. Methods: The computerized billing records of a single practice group of 3.4 full-time-equivalent, fellowship-trained pediatric orthopaedic surgeons practicing in a freestanding pediatric hospital with a level-I trauma center were analyzed for one year (from July 2004 through June 2005). Every office visit and operative procedure was specifically sorted to determine the component of trauma care in the groups pediatric orthopaedic practice. Descriptive statistics, including the actual numbers and percentages of office fracture visits and operations for fracture care as well as the actual numbers and percentages of work relative value units generated by the physicians, are presented. Results: The practice generated 36,771 work relative value units, with 18,693 units (51%) from treatment provided in the operating room and 18,078 units (49%) from treatment provided in the office. A total of 1903 new fractures was seen and accounted for 5698 work relative value units (32% of all work relative value units for treatment provided in the office). The four fractures that were most frequently seen in the office were in the distal aspect of the radius (23%), forearm (14%), tibia (13%), and elbow (10%). Of the 18,693 work relative value units generated in the operating room, 5975 (32%) were from fracture care, representing the largest single category of work done in the operating room. Trauma-related operations were most commonly done for fractures of the elbow (25.3%), tibia (12%), femur (9.8%), forearm (5.5%), and the distal aspect of the radius (5%). Technically demanding fixation techniques, which are commonly used to treat fractures in adults, were frequently used, particularly for femoral and tibial fractures. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: This study documents the frequency and work relative value of the care of musculoskeletal injuries in an urban pediatric orthopaedic practice in the outpatient and inpatient settings. It is a snapshot in time of current trends in pediatric orthopaedic practice, but these data may have implications for future resource allocation of the pediatric orthopaedic manpower in North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 1969 Dega described a transiliac osteotomy to treat residual acetabular dysplasia secondary to congenital hip dysplasia or dislocation. We were unable to find a thorough description of the technique in the English-language orthopaedic literature, and the number of clinical follow-up series is small. Methods: Twenty-two children (twenty-four hips) with an average age of five years and ten months and varying degrees of congenital hip dysplasia, subluxation, or dislocation were treated with a Dega osteotomy. Twenty hips (83%) had a concomitant femoral osteotomy and thirteen (54%) had an anterior open reduction of the hip in addition to the Dega osteotomy. To be included in the study group, each patient had to have complete clinical documentation of the range of motion, presence or absence of a limp, limb-length discrepancy, hip pain, and limitation of activity. Radiographs were reviewed to determine the acetabular index, the center-edge angle, whether the Shenton line was intact or broken, and any change in the projection of the obturator foramen. Results: At an average of fifty-five months postoperatively, all patients demonstrated unlimited physical activity and no limp. The average acetabular index changed from 33° preoperatively to 12° at the time of follow-up. The center-edge angle ranged from less than -30° to 18° preoperatively and from 18° to 40° (average, 31°) at the time of follow-up. A change in the obturator foramen was observed in fourteen hips (58%). The Shenton line was broken in seventeen hips preoperatively but in none postoperatively. One Dega osteotomy was revised immediately after the index operation, and three hips underwent late repeat correction of the proximal part of the femur; one of the repeat corrections was performed together with a repeat Dega osteotomy. Conclusions: Our initial experience with the Dega osteotomy demonstrated it to be a valuable surgical treatment of congenital dysplasia of... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]