It has been a busy few weeks @ Hey Clinic, and I am a bit behind on the Blog…sorry for the delay for our many loyal readers!
Here are some preop/postop pictures for a nice young lady named Debbie from North Carolina who had a very painful, and noticable collapsing kyphoscoliosis.
We were fortunate to get an excellent correction, through a posterior-only approach, using multi-level osteotomies to help get a better correction in both the front and side “planes”.
She did very well postoperatively, and is now quite a bit taller.  She had a little trouble with postoperative ilius, which is when the intestines stop their normal peristalsis due to swelling, pain medication, lack of movement, and lumbar surgery.  Eventually her intestines “woke up”, and she was advanced on her diet and went home very happy, with a whole new posture.
You can help prevent or decrease the duration of ilius by giving yourself a good bowel cleanout prior to surgery, and try to minimize use of narcotics, and ambulate as much as possible after surgery.

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