OBJECTIVE: Analyze the results and complications of scoliosis surgery in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome to verify if this kind of treatment is justified. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of clinical records and radiographs of five patients with Prader-Willi syndrome treated at the Department of Scoliosis between 2005 and 2010. RESULTS: The average age of patients at the first visit was 3.6 years. The average scoliosis was 61°, which increased to 65° at the time of surgery. The average number of surgeries performed per patient was 2.8, reaching an average correction of 35%. The reasons for re-interventions were correction loss in 4 cases (28.5%), loosening of hooks in two cases (14.3%), and kyphosis after instrumentation in one case (7.1%). There were no serious complications. CONCLUSIONS: Even though the literature shows authors unwilling to indicate surgery in such patients because of the high rate of severe complications, the absence of these complications in our practice validates the use of the same surgical criteria of idiopathic scoliosis.
Prader-Willi syndrome; Scoliosis, Surgery; Scoliosis, Complications
