Does Posterior Scoliosis Correction Improve Respiratory Function in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis. OBJECTIVES: Pulmonary dysfunction is often advocated among the indications for surgical correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Previous studies have discussed the effect of scoliosis correction on respiratory function without reaching a definitive conclusion: Some showed that the respiratory function can improve after scoliosis surgery without defining the precise role of anterior, posterior, and combined approaches on this improvement; furthermore, the majority of these studies did not take normal growth into account. As a result, the role of surgery remains to be clarified. The object of the present study was to synthesize the current knowledge regarding changes in respiratory function after posterior corrective surgery for AIS. METHODS: value was calculated as a test for overall effect. RESULTS: Ten studies (6 prospective and 4 retrospective studies) met our inclusion criteria. The overall effect showed that there was no significant difference in %FVC or %FEV between pre- and postoperative measurements (very low evidence). CONCLUSIONS: Posterior correction surgery for mild to moderate AIS patients showed no significant improvement of postoperative respiratory function measured by relative, percent-predicted values at minimum 2-year follow-up.