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Why should you receive treatment
for scoliosis in AMC?

When looking at a person standing, the spine should run straight down the middle with the head in the center of the body. If the spine is not straight and curves to the side, it is considered abnormal. This condition is simply called ‘scoliosis.’

To properly treat scoliosis, cooperation among highly-experienced specialists is necessary. AMC’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery has made remarkable growth in the treatment of scoliosis by performing more than 160 surgeries every year. They are also recognized as the best in Korea. To meet growing expectations and ensure effective treatment and care, AMC opened the Scoliosis Center in April 2009.  
The Scoliosis Center provides treatment of all types of infantile and adolescent scoliosis (idiopathic, congenital, and neuromuscular) as well as other pediatric spinal disorders. Professors and clinical nurse specialists will offer sufficient explanations and counseling to patients and their parents at the consultation rooms or the counseling room.

If surgical treatment is needed, medical professionals, who have engaged in numerous clinical studies and have had abundant experience, will perform the latest scientifically-validated scoliosis correction. They will also cooperate closely with relevant departments for preoperative and postoperative patient safety and rehabilitation.

Treatment options

Scoliosis does not necessarily require treatment. The first step is to decide if treatment is really necessary before choosing an appropriate treatment approach.

Scoliosis patients and their guardians may obviously want the curved spine to become straightened, but in reality, treatment is not as easy as it may seem. The only way to straighten the curved spine is surgery. It is a very complicated operation so the first line of treatment would be to prevent scoliosis from getting worse in patients with a spinal curvature of less than 40 degrees. For this reason, a corrective brace is prescribed and the progress is regularly monitored.

Bracing

Bracing is recommended when the curvature of the spine is expected to worsen as the adolescent continues to develop. Usually, patients should wear the corrective brace 22~23 hours per day. However, AMC’s Scoliosis Center has a different policy. They recommend adolescent patients to wear the brace for only 8 hours a day during their sleep to ease the stress in such a sensitive period of their lifetime.

Surgery

Surgery is needed for developing patients with a spinal curvature of greater than 40-45 degrees and for fully grown patients with a spinal curvature of greater than 50-55 degrees. Medical professionals, who have engaged in numerous clinical studies and have had abundant experience, will perform the latest scientifically-validated scoliosis correction. They will also cooperate closely with relevant departments for preoperative and postoperative patient safety and rehabilitation.

AMC’s treatment performance

  • No. of operations performed every year

  • Managing Complications

    The Scoliosis Center strives to prevent complications that may occur after surgery by identifying abnormalities through preoperative medical screenings and postoperative patient care. As a result, more than 1,000 surgeries have been performed until now. No such complication such as paralysis, which is the gravest complication of scoliosis surgery, has been reported.