Association of postoperative shoulder balance with adding-on in Lenke Type II adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Study Design: A retrospective, multicenter study.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between postoperative shoulder balance and adding-on in Lenke type 2 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Summary Of Background Data: Postoperative shoulder imbalance (PSI) and adding-on are the main postoperative complications occurring at the proximal to upper instrumented vertebra and the distal to the lower instrumental vertebra (LIV), respectively. Inadequate selection of LIV in the selective thoracic fusion surgery may result in postoperative distal adding-on. It remains unclear whether postoperative shoulder balance is associated with postoperative adding-on.

Methods: Preoperative, postoperative, and 2-year follow-up radiographs of 142 consecutive patients with Lenke type 2 curves who underwent posterior-fusion surgery were analyzed. The patients were grouped into PSI positive and negative at follow-up. Radiographical and categorical factors between patients with and without PSI were compared. The relationship between the radiographical shoulder height and the parameters of adding-on were analyzed.

Results: PSI occurred in 23 patients (16.2%) and distal adding-on was recognized in 20 patients (14.1%) at final follow-up. The occurrence of adding-on was significantly lower in the shoulder imbalance group at follow-up (P < 0.01). There was no shoulder imbalance occurring in the patients with distal adding-on at final follow-up (P < 0.01). Correlation analysis showed that the radiographical shoulder height was positively correlated with the change in the angulation of the first disc below LIV (r = 0.228, P ≤ 0.01) and negatively correlated with the deviation change of the LIV+1 at follow-up (r = -0.254, P ≤ 0.01).

Conclusion: The postoperative shoulder balance and postoperative distal adding-on were weakly but significantly associated with each other, and both shoulder imbalance and adding-on need to be prevented in Lenke type 2 curves.