Dr. Mackenzie is an internationally recognized expert in skeletal dysplasia and other musculoskeletal conditions of childhood. The endowment helps attract the best surgeons and funds research, clinical care, and professional education.
Dr. Peter Gabos and physician assistants Theresa Kudlick and Melanie Uebele discuss a spine scan.
We pride ourselves in offering family-centered care. That means we welcome your involvement in every step of your child’s diagnosis and treatment. And we recognize the importance of your role in the care and healing process — we consider you a crucial part of our care team.
In addition to top-rate surgical care (spinal fusions, spondylolisthesis surgery, etc.), we offer a wide array of nonsurgical care and services for children with spinal deformities that includes:
Kids with spinal deformities, like scoliosis, often need to wear a back brace, which fits right under the clothes without anyone even knowing it's there. Can you tell which picture she's wearing the brace in?
Here at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, DE, we developed a type of back brace that’s now used to treat scoliosis in kids everywhere. With the help of X-ray imaging, every Wilmington brace is created specifically to fit each patient.
The brace is made of lightweight plastic, so it can be worn under clothes and isn't visible at all (which can mean the world to self-conscious kids and teens who want to blend in). And because it's designed to be worn as much as possible (between 18 and 20 hours per day), each back brace comes with a one-of-a-kind “compliance monitor.” This electronic sensor device helps us and the kids we treat keep track of how often they’re wearing the brace — to make sure they’re getting the most out of it every day.
These specialists fit and fabricate supports and scoliosis braces for children that can often be custom-made on the same day they’re prescribed.
It's ultra-low-dose and offers a digital 3-D view of the spine. Used for scoliosis in children, this type of imaging (radiology) test provides significantly less radiation than conventional X-rays and CT scans. It's ideal for kids who need frequent X-rays because it limits radiation over a lifetime and helps our surgeons see the spine in better detail. And you won't find this advanced equipment at any other hospitals in the area.
Our Spine and Scoliosis Center experts participated in innovative research that led to a test called, “ScoliScore Test,” which is used to figure out how mild or severe a patient’s scoliosis curve will be. All kids need to do is give a saliva sample (by spitting into a special container that comes with the ScoliScore kit). The saliva is then sent away to a lab for processing.
If the results show the child’s spinal curve is only mild, we may not need to do anything but observe the child over time. If the test shows the curve will be severe, we can focus our attention on the treatment options.
Suken Shah, MD (division chief of the Spine and Scoliosis Center) talks about ScoliScore:
Rachel shows off her flexibility six months after her spinal fusion surgery for idiopathic scoliosis.
Not every child who has a spinal deformity will need an operation. We offer lots of nonsurgical options (from physical therapy to scoliosis braces) to help kids do the things they need and want to do without having to go through surgery.
But if your child does need an operation, you can rest assured that you’re getting the very best care from some of the best surgeons in spinal care.
At the Spine and Scoliosis Center, we’re a regional leader in reducing infection and complications rates after surgery, repeat operations, and the length of stay in the hospital. All of that often means a faster recovery, less pain and discomfort for your child, less worry for you — and getting your child back to life, school, and activities as soon as possible.
Some children and teens who need surgery to correct their spinal deformities may get an operation called a “spinal fusion” (sometimes referred to as a “spine fusion”). The surgeon uses metal rods and screws to make the separate bones of the spine (where the curve exists) grow in a straighter position — into one solid piece of bone.
We’re also one of only a few hospitals nationwide offering an advanced scoliosis surgery technique for children called, “video-assisted thoracoscopic anterior spine fusion” (or VATS, for short). (“Thoracoscopic,” pronounced thor-a-ko-scah-pick, means “inside the chest.”)
This kind of minimally invasive surgery uses smaller incisions (cuts in the skin), causes less scarring, and means a shorter hospital stay for kids with scoliosis than traditional spinal surgery.
Dr. Shah made an appearance on “Good Morning America” to discuss this cutting-edge procedure. Go to Story »
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