THE OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF SCOLIOSIS

We feel that, although operative procedures for scoliosis cannot be considered to have stood the test of time, they have been sufficiently encouraging to permit us to continue their employment. We have never operated for cosmetic effects and we have purposely operated only in a limited number of patients under the conditions already mentioned. We hope that the day will come when the field of usefulness of operative procedures may be extended, but we would hesitate to recommend their general use, because, as we have already stated, the operation is a severe one. It should not be carried out except after deep thought and consideration, and then only by those who are accustomed to operate on the spine. Perhaps at a later date its field of usefulness will be broadened, but until we have been able to prove the enduring character of the ankylosis and the general benefit to the patient, as shown by increased height and marked improvement in general condition, we have no right to employ it except in desperate cases.

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