Pain After Anterior Vertebral Body Tethering: Incidence, Risk Factors, and Timing

Retrospective case series.

To examine the incidence and risk factors for postoperative pain following anterior vertebral body tethering (AVBT) for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Up to 78% of patients with AIS report preoperative pain; it is the greatest patient concern surrounding surgery. Pain significantly decreases following posterior spinal fusion, but pain following AVBT is poorly understood.

We retrospectively reviewed 279 patients with a two-year follow-up after AVBT for AIS. We collected demographic, radiographic, and clinical data pertinent to postoperative pain at each time interval of preoperative and postoperative visits (6 wk, 6 mo, 1 y, and annually thereafter).

Within our cohort, 68.1% of patients reported preoperative pain. Older age ( P =0.014) and greater proximal thoracic ( P =0.013) and main thoracic ( P =0.002) coronal curve magnitudes were associated with preoperative pain. Pain at any time point > 6 weeks postoperatively was reported in 41.6% of patients; it was associated with the female sex ( P =0.032), need for revision surgery ( P =0.019), and greater lateral displacement of the apical lumbar vertebrae ( P =0.028). The association between preoperative and postoperative pain trended toward significance ( P =0.07). At 6 months postoperatively, 91.8% had pain resolution; the same number remained pain-free at the time of last follow-up. The presence of a postoperative complication was associated with new-onset postoperative pain that resolved ( P =0.009). Only 8.2% had persistent pain, although no risk factors were found to be associated with persistent pain.

In our cohort of 279 patients with a minimum 2-year follow-up after AVBT, 68.1% reported preoperative pain. Nearly 42% reported postoperative pain at any time point, but only 8.2% had persistent pain. Postoperative pain after AVBT was associated with female sex, revision surgery, and Lenke lumbar modifier. AVBT is associated with a significant reduction in pain, and few patients report long-term postoperative pain.