Scoliosis device, the ApiFix, held by Dr. Ron El-Hawary, includes movable joints that help patients maintain their flexibility after scoliosis surgery, allowing them to participate in sports. (Carolyn Ray/CBC)

Scoliosis surgery breakthrough in Halifax

Scoliosis is the curvature of the spine that occurs most often during the growth spurt just before puberty.

“I think it could be revolutionary, I think it’s a really intriguing concept”

For Jessica Robb, of Westover, Ontario, that happened when she was seven.

For the last seven years of the 14 year-old’s life, she wore a brace 20 hours a day.

Scoliosis left Jessica Robb with a 50 per cent curvature of the spine.

Despite the treatment, by last year the curve of her spine had reached 50 per cent.

“Her lungs were being restricted by her rib cage twisting,” her mother, Tracy Robb told the CBC’s Carolyn Robb.

“All the things she loved doing, she wasn’t able to do. She was also experiencing pain,” Robb said.

At McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, doctors recommended fusion therapy, the invasive procedure that takes between 15 and 20 screws to fuse rods to the spine.

But Tracy Robb had researched alternatives, which brought the family to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“There’s lots of questions that are still unanswered”

The IWK Hospital offers the ApiFix procedure, the only place in North America to do so, and surgeons in Canada and the United States are paying attention.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ron El-Hawary, was skeptical when he first learned of the ApiFix procedure three years ago.

Developed in Israel, The ApiFix device had one rod instead of two, with several joints that are flexible, and attaches to the spine with just two to four screws.

Dr. Ron El-Hawary and Jessica Robb say goodbye after Jessica was approved to return to Ontario and finish her recovery. (Submitted by the Robb family)

El-Hawary researched the device and procedure for months and eventually became convinced of its potential.

“I think it could be revolutionary, I think it’s a really intriguing concept,” El-Hawary said.

There are several improvements with the new device, he says, including increased flexibility for the patient, instead of the limits imposed by fusion rods.

It’s also safer and less invasive for patients, and faster.

The surgery with the ApiFix device takes less than two hours, that’s half the time, freeing up operating rooms.

But El-Hawary cautions his patients that there’s no long-term knowledge of how the device will hold up.

“I tell them I don’t know what’s going to happen in 10 or 20 years. There’s lots of questions that are still unanswered and we’re doing lots of research to try to figure that out.”

And he emphasizes that fusion surgeries continue to be the standard until more studies are complete.

(With files from CBC)

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