Adults with spine deformity often have spine positions that lead to forward stooping. We compensate by bending our knees and tucking our butt muscles. This leads to pain and fatigue with walking.
Correcting this posture is one of the main goals of undergoing the surgery. Despite the surgeon’s best efforts, some patients still tend to stoop forward after surgery.
With the use of computer programs, we can now plan the shape of the rod that will be implanted to correct the curve, and make the rods for each patient individually.
A study was done comparing 60 patients who had pre-bent rods, to patients that had traditional rods, which are bent at the time of surgery. The research shows that patients with specific pre-bent rods are 2.6 times more likely to be balanced after surgery than with patients with traditional rods. Another benefit was shorter surgical times.
This new technology is promising, and we have gained more understanding of how to have the best outcomes.
Ou-Yang D, Burger EL, Kleck CJ. Global Spine J. 2022 Apr;12(2_suppl):40S-44S. doi: 10.1177/21925682211055096. PMID: 35393875 Free PMC article.