Arushi Bidhuri
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Written By: Arushi Bidhuri | Updated : June 24, 2022 10:09 AM IST
In a rare case, a 12-year-old girl suffering from a condition called Juveline Idiopathic Scoliosis was given a new lease of life at the Sarvodya Hospital, Faridabad. The condition caused her spine to deform, which needed immediate attention. She had an S-shaped curve of the spine which was successfully treated, restoring her spine to its original straight shape.
The girl has had an uncommon but severe spinal abnormality since she was seven years old. The girl's parents had first noticed the problem five years prior when her back started to slant to one side from the usual spinal curve. In the past two years, the spinal curve has intensified and continued to expand.
The girl was also suffering from restrictive pulmonary disease, leading to a decrease in the total volume of air that her lungs could hold. "The child's spine would have kept growing till she reached 18 years of age and the curve would have become more severe. Her lungs would have kept getting compressed, and she would not have been able to breathe enough air. Any delay in treatment would have been life-threatening for the child," said Dr Ashish Tomar.
As reported, the girl also had a restrictive pulmonary illness, which reduced the amount of air that her lungs could hold in total. According to the expert, there was a risk of paralysis in correcting the massive spinal curve directly. Hence the patient was put in spinal traction for a week which helped lower the severity of the curvature from 120 degrees to 80 degrees. Following this, the patient was taken into surgery and treated successfully.
Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine. Some of the common causes of the condition include birth defects, neurological conditions and genetic conditions. The most common type of scoliosis is idiopathic scoliosis, which is broken down by age groups, including juvenile idiopathic scoliosis.
Dr Ashish Tomar, Senior Consultant, Orthopedics & Spine Surgery, Sarvodaya Hospital, Faridabad said, "The girl was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Scoliosis, a rare condition that can become life-threatening with lack of treatment. In this, the patient suffers from an abnormal curvature of the spine that causes the spinal column to bend left or right, in the shape of an S. A curve of up to 10 degrees in a human spine is considered normal. Beyond 60 degrees, however, a spinal curve becomes progressive for life it will keep becoming more and more severe with time. The condition is present in about 0.5 per cent of the total population of children."
While the common signs of the condition depend on its degree, there are some common symptoms of scoliosis that you can look out for:
