Presented by:
Dr. Ahmet Alanay
Spine Surgeon, Istanbul

Posterior Instrumentation and Fusion is the gold standard of care for treating severe scoliotic curves. Although spinal fusion stands effective, it limits motion, halts growth in the operated segments and is not without complications.
Vertebral body tethering (VBT) is a novel thoracoscopic minimal invasive surgical technique. It is a “growth modulation” method, which depends on remaining spinal growth of the patient. The correction of the deformity is achieved by thoracoscopic placement of a tether into the vertebral body screws on the convex side of the spinal deformity. The aim of this growth- and motion-sparing technique is to correct and/or stabilize the curve while modulating the growth of the spine to avoid fusion for AIS in selected group of patients. It is a very promising alternative, however there is still more progress to be made.