Surface topography assessment of body shape after surgical correction in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Hypothesis: Body surface topography (ST) improvements are associated with surgical correction in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and correlate with radiographic imaging. Design: Prospective observational study. Introduction: Patients undergoing correction of AIS are most affected by body image. Radiographs have been the standard assessment tool but do not assess body shape features. ST, a validated, radiation-free assessment tool, directly represents the patient’s deformity. We set out to assess ST improvements associated with surgical correction in AIS. Methods: Twenty-three consecutive operative AIS patients were enrolled and had radiographs and posterior ST obtained pre- and postoperatively (PO). ST changes were compared using paired t test, and correlations of ST with radiograph measurements were evaluated by linear regression. Results: Mean age at surgery was 15.0 ± 2 years, 82.6% female with mean follow-up of 1.0 year. Major Cobb angle improved from 56.91° ± 15.57° to 13.70° ± 4.89°. ST scoliosis angle corrected from 41.43° ± 11.52° to 11.78° ± 7.84° (p <.0001). Trunk length increased from 401.22 ± 32.43 to 422.30 ± 25.77 mm (Δ21.08 mm; p =.0004). Pelvic obliquity (waist asymmetry) trended toward improvement (6.0 ± 4.3 vs. 5.3 ± 7.1 mm; p =.06). Surface rotation was corrected from 17.35 ± 6.73 to 11.8 ± 4.12 mm (p <.0001), highly correlated with clinical trunk rotation (T p =.002 and TL p =.02). ST highly correlated with radiographic parameters. Sagittal balance correlated with improved function (p =.02). Conclusion: ST, a radiation-free body shape assessment tool, improved with surgical correction of AIS and was highly correlated with radiographic outcomes.