Surgical outcomes following hemivertebrectomy in congenital scoliosis: a systematic review and observational meta-analysis

Hemivertebrectomy is widely used definitive correction surgery in congenital scoliosis due to hemivertebrae. It may be done either as combined anterior and posterior approach or a single-stage posterior approach only. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare two techniques with regards to blood loss, operative time, deformity correction and complications. The systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted according to PRISMA guidelines among peer-reviewed journals published in English between June 2000 and June 2020. Quality appraisal of all selected articles was done and data extracted. After thorough literature search and excluding, 37 studies were included for review. The commonest location of the hemivertebrae was thoracolumbar spine (51.3%), thoracic (26.2%), lumbar/lumbosacral (21.6%) followed by cervical (0.7%). Pooled data showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) in mean operative time with posterior only approach (227 min, 95% CI 205–250) as compared to Combined Anterior Posterior Approach (CAPA) (316 min 95% CI 291–341). Significant difference (p < 0.05) in mean blood loss was observed in posterior only approach (522 ml, 95% CI 434–611) as compared to CAPA (888 ml, 95% CI 663–1113). No significant difference was noted in mean correction in either of the approaches and overall pooled mean correction rate was 66%, 95% CI 61–72. This review and meta-analysis of two surgical techniques of hemivertebrectomy, shows that operative time and blood loss is significantly lower in posterior only approach with no difference in correction rate as compared to CAPA. There was significant correlation between age at surgery and need for revision surgeries. IV.