Scoliosis Program

We practice family-centered care, which means we include parents and families in our treatment plans to make sure our patients receive the best and most appropriate care possible. Our treatment plans often involve coordination between several different specialties within the hospital to meet all of our patients needs. Depending on your child’s needs, you’ll have access to experts in the following areas:

• Orthopedics
• Medical imaging
• Neurosurgery
• Cardiovascular surgery
• Urology
• Physical therapy
• Orthotics
• Social work
• Child life specialists
• Pediatric medicine specialists

We also partner with ParentWISE®, a support program offered by parent volunteers who have children with scoliosis. ParentWISE volunteers speak with patients’ parents to listen to concerns, offer support and help with coping strategies. PeerWISE is a similar mentoring program that connects interested patients with older kids who have previously gone through treatment for support and guidance.

In our ongoing pursuit of high-quality care, we participate in surgery outcomes studies. Patient-families interested in our research can search any of our physicians’ publications on pubmed.gov.

Our patients have mild, moderate or severe scoliosis. There are different treatment options for each level of severity.

Mild Scoliosis

Patients with mild scoliosis are generally seen every four to six months to monitor their spine curvature while they’re still growing. If the curvature eventually becomes a problem, then corrective measures will be taken.

Moderate Scoliosis

Patients with moderate scoliosis are often referred to the Orthotics Department for bracing. Our physical therapy team also helps manage spine health through exercises, including a special scoliosis-focused yoga class. Some very young patients with moderate to severe scoliosis will be treated through serial casting.

Severe Scoliosis

The severe forms of scoliosis are treated through surgery – a posterior spinal fusion with instrumentation (PSF/I). Following PSF, patients will spend roughly a week recovering in the hospital, one month recovering at home, and then one to six months in school, while not participating in sports.

After surgery, we will schedule follow up appointments periodically for as long as five years.

Children with associated conditions such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other neurological conditions often undergo PSF/I before adolescence. Younger children with these conditions may go through serial casting as an alternative.