SCOLIOSIS IN CHINA - A GENERAL-REVIEW

In modern China the investigation and treatment of scoliosis began in the late 1970s. The incidence of scoliosis in the Chinese population o f the Sichuan province was 0.064%, and the incidence of >10 degrees fo r Beijing students was 1.04%. The surgical treatment of scoliosis for 2122 patients reported in the Chinese literature was reviewed by the a uthors. In this study, the female to male ratio was 1.3:1, the inciden ce of idiopathic scoliosis was 67.7%, and the incidence of congenital scoliosis was 18.1%. The overall result showed that the correction rat e after surgery in the coronal plane was approximately 50% using the H arrington, Luque, Dwyer, or Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation technique s. However, it would be increased by >60% if a partial vertebrectomy w as carefully done and the soft tissue in the concave side was released completely. The postoperative complications were approximately 20% wi th 0.24% of major spinal cord injury. Biologic and anatomic research o f the spine has been done so that the quality of surgical implants can be improved in the future.