Biomechanical investigation of potential prophylactic scoliosis treatments following various sizes of chest wall resection.

Background: A well-known problematic sequela of chest wall resections is development of scoliosis. Despite the seriousness and frequency of scoliosis following chest well resection, the etiology and biomechanical information needed to understand this progression aren't well-known.

Methods: Range of motion of six specimen (C7-L2) was captured using a custom-built six degrees-of-freedom machine in each of three physiological rotation axes.