Chronic Back Pain in a patient with Spontaneous Spinal Rod Malfunction: Case Study

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2020

Authors

Lee, Yein
Hall, Marshall
Do, Aivien

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Abstract

Background: Rod fractures are a common hardware malfunction of spinal rods that are used to treat scoliosis. Spinal rod malfunctions have been associated with pain, disability and decreased quality of life that may require further medical attention. Case Information: In this case we present a patient with scoliosis complicated by a rod fracture that was left uncorrected for many years that potentially augmented his chronic pain and disability. Due to chronic pain, the patient was referred to osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) for evaluation without known history of Harrington rod fracture. After initial evaluation, OMT was deferred and surgical intervention was recommended, which resulted in improvement of the patient's pain and function. Conclusion: It is important to consider possible spinal rod failure in patients with scoliosis presenting with increasing pain and disability. Treatment and management options for pain and disability caused by spinal rod fractures in scoliosis patients are limited and may be important to pursue for further investigation.

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