Return to sports activities following posterior scoliosis correction and instrumented fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and its correlation to Lenke classification.

Introduction: There is a paucity of information or guidelines regarding return to sports activities after posterior scoliosis surgery for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Research question: Review the rate of return to sports and correlation to Lenke type following surgery for AIS in a tertiary center for pediatric spinal deformity.

Materials and methods: Ninety patients were identified to have undergone surgery for AIS from 2016 to 2017 and were sent a return to sport questionnaire. Sixty-six responses were received and analyzed. For comparison, Lenke classification was divided into Subgroup 1 (Lenke type 1 and 2), Subgroup 2 (Lenke type 3 and 4), and Subgroup 3 (Lenke type 5 and 6).

Results: The average age at the time of surgery was 14.81 (11-18) years. There were Lenke 1 (31), Lenke 2 (7), Lenke 3 (12), Lenke 4 (8), Lenke 5 (7), and Lenke 6 (1). The average number of levels fused was 10.27 (7-16). 89.3% of patients returned to school between 1 and 3 months. 19.6% of patients returned to physical education (PE) within 7-12 months, while 31.8% returned to running within 4-6 months. 7.5% of patients did not do PE and 18.2% never ran after surgery. 63.6% of patients returned to contact sports after surgery, majority within 7-12 months. 91% of patients felt that they were able to achieve their preoperative performance level. Comparing the subgroups, 92% of Subgroup 1 returned to school within 2 months, while majority of them returned to PE and running within 6 months. 60% of them returned to the same level of contact/noncontact sports level prior to surgery and 40% within 6 months. Patients in Subgroup 2 and 3 returned later to school. Patients in Subgroup 2 and 3 returned later to school, PE and running with less patients returning to contact/noncontact sports.

Conclusion: This study was able to identify Lenke classification as an important predictor of patients returning to school, PE, and running earlier along with return to preoperative levels of contact/noncontact sports.