Quality of Life During Pregnancy, Caesarean Section Rate, and Anesthesia in Women with a History of Anterior Correction Surgery for Lumbar Scoliosis: A Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the prevalence and severity of low back pain (LBP), caesarean section (C-section) rate, and the anesthesia approaches among lumbar scoliosis patients undergoing anterior correction surgery, and compared them with a healthy control cohort. MATERIAL/METHODS: The inclusion criteria for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients were: presence of lumbar scoliosis, history of 1 or more pregnancies after surgery, and underwent anterior-only surgery. Healthy women with a history of 1 pregnancy were included as the control group. We recorded the type of delivery, neonatal birth weight, and perinatal complications. The quality of life was also evaluated. RESULTS: New-onset LBP was reported in 65.6% of AIS patients, significantly higher than in the control group (p<0.001). C-section was performed in 11 scoliosis patients (34.4%) and 25 healthy controls (31.25%), and the rates were not significantly different between groups (P=0.75). No serious perinatal complications were reported in either group. General anesthesia was used for all C-section AIS patients. The rate of successful neuraxial anesthesia in the control group was significantly higher (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the healthy control group, lumbar AIS patients did not experience a higher risk of perinatal complications or C-section rate after anterior surgical correction, but general anesthesia was more commonly used than neuraxial regional anesthesia. LBP was more frequently observed in the post-operative AIS patients.