Surgery of spinal deformity in cerebral palsy. Twelve years in the evolution of scoliosis management.

In order to assess the lessons learned from 12 years of surgery on patients with cerebral palsy and spinal deformity, the cases may be divided into three groups classified according to type of posterior spinal fusion, instrumentation, and time period. Group I (1976-1980) included patients who had Harrington rods, usually with Dwyer instrumentation. Group II (1980-1985) consisted of patients with unlinked Luque or wired-in Harrington rods. Group III (1985-1988) comprised patients with a unit Luque rod extending to the pelvis. Most patients were retarded nonwalkers who had total body involvement, pelvic obliquity, and severe thoracolumbar curves (Group I average, 97 degrees; Group II average, 72 degrees; Group III average, 89 degrees). The frontal plane correction at follow-up study averaged 51% in Group I, 47% in Group II, and 76% in Group III. The correction of the pelvic obliquity averaged 71% in Group I, 58% in Group II, and 86% in Group III. The general trend was toward longer fusion, use of the unit 0.625-cm Luque rod, and first-stage anterior discectomy and fusion without anterior instrumentation. The second-stage posterior arthrodesis and fusion is now performed only one week after the first-stage anterior procedure. Skeletal traction has been abandoned. The Luque rod instrumentation without fusion has also been abandoned.