Today we helped a young lady who had an unusual long R thoracic scoliosis.
Her spine had severe hypokyphosis, so that the front to back diameter of her chest wall was way too thin, giving little room for lungs and heart.
This also gave her back a very “sunken in” appearance in addition to the rib hump and shoulder asymmetry.
I performed her surgery today at Duke Raleigh Hospital, keeping her parents posted during surgery.
She did great.
EBL 1200 cc.
Blood transfused: None.
Surgical time: 3 hrs 10 minutes.
Evoked sensory and motor potentials normal.
I was able to get an excellent correction, while sparing many of the lumbar discs for motion.
I was also able to “pull out” the chest, to get rid of the hyphokyphosis and that “sunken” look, increasing the size of the chest cavity for lungs and heart.

Postop location: private room with 2 beds for her and mom (and dad if he decided to stay)
She looked awesome at her postop check, wearing her cool hat and not complaining of much pain at all.
You go, girl!
She’ll probably be with us in the hospital 2 nights, and will be up and around tomorrow.

MUCH easier surgery with much less risk and MUCH quicker recovery for this 23 yo compared with the 70 yo yesterday, who had a severe thoracolumbar curve.
It is always better to find, and follow scoliosis and kyphosis starting at a young age, and seek to treat it earlier in life if necessary, since the results are much better, and the risks are far less.
However, surgery, when indicated, can definitely improve quality of life for the child, adolescent, young adult, middle-aged and older adult.

Lloyd A. Hey, MD MS
Hey Clinic for Scoliosis and Spine Surgery
Raleigh, NC  USA
https://www.heyclinic.com