Non-Surgical Solution to Scoliosis

Thanks to a titanium rod implanted into the spine and elongated with a device from the outside, Duygu who has been operated before 6 times, has held on to life.

A new treatment method that is applied for the treatment of scoliosis (bending of the spine), which carries fatal risks, has been a new light of hope for patients. A scalpel-free "growing rods system" that is being applied in Hong Kong and England since one year was applied to Duygu Ecem (7), who is a primary school student with scoliosis since birth, in Florence Nightingale Sisli Hospital. Undergoing continuous treatment since she was 4 years old, and having been operated before 6 times, Duygu’s face smiled with the new method. In this new method, the titanium rod placed into her spine is lengthened or shortened from the outside, without the requirement for further surgery. Thus, instead of multiple operations it is possible to control the curve’s progression by a single operation where a rod is placed, and periodic lengthening is made without opening up the spine. Stable rods that were placed into Duygu’s spine were previously lengthened with an open surgery every six months. According to experts, a child who started treatment at age 3, would have to undergo a total of 22 operations until age 12.

A First in Turkey

Professor Ahmet Alanay from Sisli Florence Nightingale Orthopedics and Traumatology Unit described the benefits of the new method as follows: "Before the new method, rods that had been placed were unable to elongate by themselves, therefore necessitating elongation every 6 months. Now however, a rod is implanted with a single operation, then it is lengthened using an external apparatus not requiring opening of the skin. Thus she will not require another surgery for the next 4 years." Dr. Alanay also added that this was the first application of the method in Turkey.