Halo-gravity traction in the treatment of complex spinal deformities in children with respiratory dysfunctions

Abstract

HGT is a safe technique as the world literature describes complications in the form of loosening of the pins or superficial infections of the skin around the pins, which are not significant and do not pose a threat to the patient’s life.

Purpose – to improve the results of the ventilation function of the lungs in patients with complex spinal deformities through the preliminary use of halo gravity traction and to introduce an effective and safe method for the treatment of complex spinal deformities in children with respiratory dysfunctions.

Materials and methods. 64 children with complex spinal deformities (>100°) were treated in the orthopedic and traumatology department of the Okhmatdet NSPU using halo gravity traction during the period from 2003 until 2018. Of these, 38 are boys and 26 are girls. The average age of the patients was 11.6 years. The average Risser score was 3.8 (P>0.01).

Results. According to the data of spirography performed, 46% of patients had moderate ventilation disorders and 54% – severe ventilation disorders (FVC<60% – grade 3 and 4 of ventilation failure). Mixed type disorders were recorded in 83% of patients, and restrictive type disorders in 17% (8/48) of children. After HGT, there was an improvement in pulmonary function indicators: an increase in FVC from 63.19% to 71.77% and FEV1 from 54.71% to 65.46%, Tiffeneau-Pinelli index – from 74.59% to 85.33%. Compared with the initial level of indicators, the improvement in FVC was 13.6% after HGT and 14.6% in dynamics during the year, and FEV1 – 19.6% and 21.6%, respectively. The results obtained indicate a significant improvement in the ventilation function of the lungs, especially due to the degree of FEV1 increase, which correlates with the degree of improvement in performance, mortality and life prognosis.

Conclusions. The use of HGT makes it possible to improve the results of the final correction of spinal deformity, which in turn significantly improves the ventilation function of the lungs, which in turn helps to reduce the risks of mortality due to pulmonary insufficiency in adulthood. The choice of the appropriate methods of surgical correction for complex deformity of the spine is a prerequisite for successful treatment and the achievement of three-dimensional correction of the spine to maximally approximate its parameters to the physiological norm. The indication for halo gravity traction is a rigid scoliotic deformity of the spine with a deformity angle (>100°).

This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The research protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the institutions mentioned in the work. Informed parental agreement was obtained for the research.

No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.