Clinical utility of ultrasound to prospectively monitor distraction of magnetically controlled growing rods

摘要

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Growing rods are commonly used for surgical treatment of skeletally immature patients with scoliosis, but require repeated surgeries for distractions and are fraught with complications. As an alternative, the use of magnetically controlled growing rods (MCGR) allows for more frequent non-invasive distractions to mimic normal growth. However, more plain radiographs are needed to monitor increased distraction frequency, thereby increasing ionizing radiation exposure to the developing child. The use of ultrasound, which emits no radiation, has been found in a cross-sectional study to be reliable in measuring MCGR distractions.