How does the correction in lumbar lordosis affect the spinopelvic realignments in degenerative lumbar scoliosis underwent scoliosis surgery?

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the effects of correction in lumbar lordosis (LL) that have on full-body realignments in patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS) who had undergone long sacroiliac fusion surgery.

METHODS

A multi-center retrospective study including 88 DLS patients underwent the surgical procedure of long sacroiliac fusion with instrumentations was performed. Comparisons of radiographic and quality-of-life (QoL) data among that at the pre-operation, the 3rd month and the final follow-up were performed. The correlations between the LL correction and the changes in other spinopelvic parameters were explored using Pearson-correlation linear analysis and linear regression analysis. The correlation coefficient (r) and the adjusted r were calculated subsequently.

RESULTS

All radiographic and QoL data improved significantly (P < 0.001) after the surgical treatments. The LL correction correlated (P < 0.001) with the changes in the sacral slope (SS, r = 0.698), pelvic tilt (PT, r = -0.635), sagittal vertical axis (SVA, r = -0.591), T1 pelvic angle (TPA, r = -0.782), and the mismatch of pelvic incidence minus lumbar lordosis (PI-LL, r = -0.936), respectively. Moreover, LL increased by 1° for each of the following spinopelvic parameter changes (P < 0.001): 2.62° for SS (r = 0.488), -4.01° for PT (r = 0.404), -4.86° for TPA (r = 0.612), -2.08° for the PI-LL (r = 0.876) and -15.74 mm for SVA (r = 0.349). Changes in the thoracic kyphosis (r = 0.259) and pelvic femur angle (r = 0.12) were independent of the LL correction, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

LL correction correlated significantly to the changes in spinopelvic parameters; however, those independent variables including the thoracic spine and hip variables probably be remodeled themselves to maintain the full-body balance in DLS patients underwent the correction surgery.