We are considering surgery for our 14-year old son who has scoliosis. The surgeon has talked about removing some of his ribs and using them to fuse the spine. What happens to the rest of the body with the ribs gone?

Rib resection (removal) in spine surgery for scoliosis usually involves part of four or five (up to eight) ribs. A piece about two inches long is removed and ground up. The ground up pieces are then used to help fuse the spine.

The ribs are still connected to the rest of the rib cage by soft tissue attachments. And the affected ribs still come around to the front and connect to the sternum (breast bone). The ends of the removed ribs are left alone (not repaired).

Usually the ribs will grow back and/or fill in with fibrous cartilage. This takes about three to six months after surgery. The patient doesn’t experience any pain from the loss or the regrowth of tissue.

Rib bone graft material is preferred over the standard iliac crest bone graft. There are fewer problems at the graft site. Many patients have persistent pain and/or soreness along the iliac crest where the bone was harvested from.

Rib resection is fairly painless and the ribs are highly osteogenic. This means they produce new bone quickly and easily. This is a definite advantage in creating a strong spinal fusion in a young child or teenager.