What are your thoughts on vertebral body stapling? risk vs. reward for a 9 year old girl with 30 degree thoracic scoliosis?

There are several : Options available to control or minimize a scoliosis in a child but that is dependent on the type of scoliosis, its location, degree, severity, progression risk and age of the child as well as the health of that child. The options really have to be discussed by an orthopaedic spine surgeon who knows the patient in terms of the exam, imaging studies and medical history.

Depends: The role of vbs for the treatment of scoliosis is evolving. In the case of a 9yo with a 30 degree curve, a brace alone has about an 80 percent of controlling the curve to the point of avoiding surgery. However, if she was going to progress to beyond 45 degrees despite brace use, then a vbs might have prevented the need for a standard fusion. Each case is different. Thank you for the question.