Minimally Invasive Scoliosis Correction in Parkinson Disease: Retrospective Case Series

Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the United States. In the context of the disability inherent to PD, the additional physical challenges and pain from scoliosis can be debilitating for these patients. However, the magnitude of surgery required to correct the deformity combined with the medical co-morbidities and frailty in this population of patients makes surgery very risky.

To investigate clinical presentations and outcomes of patients with PD that underwent minimally invasive long-segment fusion for scoliosis correction.

A retrospective chart review was performed over the years 2007 to 2017 for patients diagnosed with PD undergoing long-segment spinal fusion (5 or more levels) with the use of circumferential minimally invasive spine surgery techniques. Data including age, sex, race, medical co-morbidities, presenting symptoms, radiographic findings, surgical procedure, case history, and complications were collected from the medical record.

Retrospective chart review revealed three patients that met the inclusion criteria. They included 2 males and 1 female, with a mean age of 68.7 yr (range 63-75 yr). Ability to maintain upright posture, return to activities of daily living, and visual analog scale (VAS)-back improved in all patients at 1-yr follow-up. Results were durable at 2-yr follow-up. No medical complications were observed.

The generally positive results suggest that minimally invasive technique could have significant benefits in this high-risk group of patients.