Week Four Day Two: MAGEC Rods

A few days ago, I was able to learn about scoliosis in infants and pre pubescent children. Normally, pre pubescent children who have scoliosis can be treated with a brace if the degree of curvature passes 20 degrees. This brace would try to restrict the curve from increasing at the child grew and developed. However, there are some cases where kids have the 45+ degrees and are still growing. In this case, surgery is the best option to try and reduce the curve.

Once a child has reached puberty, and is fully grown, the curve is less likely to increase. Take these two cases for example.

1 ) A 16 year old female, who is fully grown, with a 30 degree curve.
2 ) A 9 year old female, who still has lots to grow, with a 30 degree curve.

In case one, it'd be most likely that the orthopedic specialist wouldn't do anything for the curve, other than checking it out again six months to a year later, to ensure it isn't growing. There would be no bracing, and no surgery.

In case two, the girl would most likely be put in a brace to stop the increase of the curve. If there is no brace, she would be at high risk for the curve to increase into what I like to call the red zone, which is 45+ degrees, implying possible or guaranteed surgery.

So, picture a 6 year old with a 50 degree curve (below is a picture of a 50 degree curve in an adult for reference).

This child would be at extremely dangerous chance of increasing their curve as they grew, and since the curve is 50 degrees, it would be in the surgical point of development.

However, it is impossible and highly dangerous to put rods and screws in a child who is growing and developing (that should be quite obvious). Because of that, there are rods called MAGEC Rods.

The rods can be placed in growing children for their surgery, and can actually be lengthened while still in the child's body. It's an extremely strange concept, especially when you see in person how the rods are lengthened.

In this picture, if you look closely on the rods, there is one location on each rod that seems a bit darker grey, with a white line in the middle. That is where the rods are lengthened. I was able to see three lengthenings while doing my shadowing experience. It is done by placing a magnetic tool on the child's back to stretch the metal rods out while in the child. No extra incision is needed, and it can be done simply at a specialist's office with the correct tools.

The three instances I saw all helped with the data I was collecting, as all of the instances included pre-existing conditions before the operation, and gave me three more data points in that one day. As someone who had scoliosis, and the surgery, this was a very humbling experience, as I saw kids younger than me having to go through what was the roughest period of my life so far. I'm overall grateful for what I saw, as it gave me a lot of perspective. I cannot wait to continue this experience and hope to learn more about my own condition through observation.