After debating the pros and cons for months about surgery for our son, we finally agreed to rods being placed in his spine for severe scoliosis. Six months later, the rod broke and we were worse off than before surgery. We knew there was a risk of this happening but why did it happen? That’s what we want to know.

Without knowing the particulars of your son’s case, we can’t really say what happened. This is a question the surgeon may be able to answer. We can provide you with some information from a recently published study on risk factors for rod breakage in children with scoliosis. You might find something (or several somethings) in this list that match your son’s situation.

The study was done by a group of 10 pediatric orthopedic centers. They put together a growing rod database by combining all the information they had from 327 children treated with growing rods throughout all 10 centers.

By putting information about each case into a computer database, they could study and analyze the data. In this study, they looked for risk factors for rod breakage. The hope was to find ways to prevent this complication.

The first thing they noticed was the percentage of children who experienced growing rod fractures: 15 per cent. Then by comparing children with breakage against children without rod fractures, they isolated the risk factors. Here’s what they found:

  • Children with scoliosis as a part of other problems (called a syndrome) had the highest rate of fracture. This was much higher than for children with scoliosis as a result of a neuromuscular problem such as cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy.
  • Children who could stand upright and walk had a higher risk of rod fracture.
  • Children with single rods (only on one side of the spine) rather than dual rods (placed on both sides of the spine) were at greater risk for rod breakage.
  • When dual rods broke, both sides fractured at the same time in 26 per cent of all cases.
  • Titanium rods break less often than stainless steel rods.
  • Thicker rods were less likely to break compared with thinner diameter rods.

    This is actually the first study to examine growing rod breakage. All manner of potential risk factors were considered (e.g., age, sex, weight, use of bracing before or after surgery, level of rod fracture, location and severity of the scoliosis). But the ones with the greatest significance are listed above.

    Surgeons agree there is a need for more study in this area and perhaps a better rod design. Finding ways to prevent rod breakage is the next step in helping children like your son achieve the desired results without complications.