OBJECTIVE: to evaluate clinical and radiographic postoperative results of congenital kyphosis correction in thoracic meningomyelocele patients using vertical expandable prosthetic of titanium for the rib (VEPTR). METHODS: a retrospective study of 19 thoracic meningomyelocele and congenital kyphosis patients that were subjected to the VEPTR treatment between October 2005 and October 2008, with radiographic evaluation and immediate post and pre-operative clinical practice. Also, the duration of surgical procedure, the need for blood transfusion and postoperative complications were assessed. RESULTS: the patients' average age was 70 months (from 32 to 130 months). The average follow-up from patients was 13.5 months (from 2 to 26 months). The average duration of the procedure was 117 minutes (variation between 70 and 195 minutes). All children reached trunk balance, 13 of whom had not showed it in the postoperative period. The average of pre-operation kyphosis was 115° (from 80° to 150°) and 77° (from 50° to 104°) for postoperative, with an average correction percentage of 31.2% (from 1.1 to 61.5%). The previous pre-operative imbalance of trunk was an average 7.9 cm (from 1.0 to 15.5 cm) and 3.4 cm (from 0 to 8 cm) for post-operative. The average correction of this imbalance was of 50.4% (from 0 to 100%). Regarding weight, in pre-operative the average was 15.4 kg (from 8 to 30 kg) and 20.6 kg (from 8.5 to 35 kg) for postoperative. The average gain of weight was of 36.6% (from 9.8 to 100%). Five of the 19 patients (26.3%) presented postoperative complications. No patient needed blood transfusion. CONCLUSION: the use of VEPTR in thoracic meningomyelocele and congenital kyphosis patients has proven to be an effective and promising alternative for the control of physical deformity in patients with a potential for growth.
Kyphosis; Meningomyelocele; Prostheses; Titaniun
