Adult degenerative scoliosis occurs due to asymmetric degeneration of discs and facet joints, commonly affecting those older than 50. Unlike adolescent scoliosis, these deformities tend to inflict a great deal of pain due to neural compression and spinal instability. The surgical correction involves decompression of the neural elements followed by restoration of proper alignment in both the coronal and sagittal planes, all the while stabilising through instrumented fusion, thus addressing the deformity along with its degenerative components.
Robotic-assisted correction for adult degenerative scoliosis is offered at the Manipal Institute of Robotic Spine Surgery. It commences with thorough preoperative planning that grooms itself on addressing the deformity and neural compression. After patient positioning and registration, the robot builds a detailed degeneration map. Our expert spine care surgeon designs precise locations for decompression and optimal trajectories for pedicle screws, carefully manoeuvring around heavily degenerated or previously fused areas.
The robotic arm directs every step with impressive precision, which becomes tremendously helpful in these patients, who frequently have osteoporosis, to aggravate conventional landmark-guided techniques. Decompression is performed at levels with stenosis, followed by robot-guided insertion of pedicle screws.
