Comparable rates of lumbar disc degeneration at long-term following adolescent idiopathic scoliosis spinal fusion extended to L3 or L4: systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) requires a careful choice of fusion levels. The usual recommendation for the selection of the lowest instrumented vertebra (LIV) for double major or thoracolumbar/lumbar (TL/L) curves falls on L3 or L4. The aim of the present study is to assess if the spinal fusion with LIV selection of L3 or L4 in AIS patients has a clinical or radiological impact in terms of degenerative disc disease (DDD) in distal unfused segments at long-term follow-up.

Methods

A systematic search of electronic databases from eligible articles was conducted. Only studies regarding long-term follow-up of AIS patients treated with spinal fusion were included. Clinical and radiographic outcomes were extracted and summarized. Meta-analysis

SUBMITTER: Ruffilli A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11217089 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature