Complications in surgery of early-onset scoliosis with VEPTR instrumentation: preliminary report

Objective. To analyze complications developing during multistage correction of early severe spinal deformities of various etiologies using VEPTR instrumentation. Materials and Methods. The study included prospective group of 76 patients treated for early-onset scoliosis (EOS) with the VEPTR and VEPTR II instrumentation. Patients were classified using a randomized Classification of Early-Onset Scoliosis (C-EOS) system. In accordance with scoliosis etiology the cases were distributed as follows: 28 idiopathic, 26 congenital, 20 syndromic, and 2 neuromuscular scoliosis cases; and ratio of boys to girls was 32 : 44. The average age at the beginning of treatment was 5.4 ± 2.1 (1.6 to 9.8) years. The average follow-up period since the first stage was 2.2 (2 to 2.5) years. Results. Twenty three complications were revealed in 15 (19.7 %) patients. According to the C-EOS system, the patients with complica- tions were referred to normo- and hyperkyphotic groups. The most common complication was migration of the cranial point of implant fixation. Most complications were eliminated during the planned stage of deformity correction. In two cases, the complication resulted in cessation of the VEPTR technique using. Conclusions. The use of VEPTR instrumentation for the treatment of EOS is associated with a rather high risk of complications. This is most likely in patients with normokyphotic and hyperkyphotic deformities. Most complications are eliminated during stage correction. The need to abandon the further use of the VEPTR instrumentation is rare