What Is The Anterior Approach For Scoliosis?

If you have a spinal deformity such as scoliosis or kyphosis, there are several different approaches your spine specialist can use to correct it. The anterior approach means that the surgeon will approach your spine from the front rather than the back (posterior approach). The anterior approach allows your surgeon to remove discs, place corrective spinal instrumentation and perform spinal fusion surgery.

Why is it done?

Your surgeon may choose an open anterior approach based on your type of scoliosis, location of your spinal curvature and ease of approaching the curve. Some scoliosis curves are especially suitable for an anterior spine surgery approach. Your surgeon may fuse a shorter segment of your spine using the anterior approach, preserving more motion in your spinal column. Anterior techniques can produce very powerful correction of spinal deformities. However, this approach is more difficult than the standard posterior approach.

Special instrumentation

Placing special instrumentation in the front of the spine completes correction of the spinal deformity. This usually consists of placing vertebral body screws at each vertebral level involved in the curve. These screws are then attached to a single or double rod at each level. A combination of compression along the rod, and rotation of the rod will produce correction of the spinal deformity.

Our scoliosis patients come to us from Vernon, South Windsor, Manchester, Hartford, Bloomfield, Ellington and neighboring locations.