The British Scoliosis Society (BSS) are proud to announce that on the evening of Thursday 25th November 2021, starting at 6:30pm (18:30), there will be Webinars on 'Life after MAGEC' and 'Navigation/enabling tech in Paediatric scoliosis surgery', followed by the 2021 AGM for the BSS. Registration is required to attend, and is only open to BSS members (and applicant members)
To register, please follow the links in the member news area (login required)
PDF Version: 210625 - BSS MAGEC Patient Information.pdf
MAGEC Growing Rods
British Scoliosis Society Patient Information
NuVasive Specialized Orthopedics Inc., (the company that manufactures MAGEC growing rods) and the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have released statements that announce the CE certification for the MAGEC growing rod system has been temporarily suspended and we should not implant any more MAGEC growing rods in the UK until further notice. The reasons for this are complicated but include concerns about failure of the rods and the ability of the rods to continue lengthening using the external magnet.
If your child is due for surgery using the MAGEC growing rods, this will not be possible and we do not know when MAGEC rods will be available for use in the UK again. Your surgeon will discuss the other available options for treating your child.
If your child still has the MAGEC growing rods then your surgeon will continue to monitor your child and lengthen the MAGEC growing rods in clinic. X-rays must be taken every 6 months and your surgeon will compare these with previous x-rays to look for any problems and confirm that the rods are still lengthening. The rods only need removing if the device has broken, is not lengthening anymore, has reached the end of distraction or has been implanted for 6 years. The rods will be removed as soon as possible in these circumstances or once treatment has ended, and your surgeon will discuss the options for your child.
If your child previously had MAGEC growing rods but they have been removed, then no further action is required.
For additional information please go the British Scoliosis Society Website where the MHRA and NuVasive documents can be found. If you still have concerns, please contact your surgical team who will be happy to discuss things further.
Additional Links:
NuVasive Company Statement - MAGEC and Precice CE Mark (nuvasive.com)
Dear BASS and BSS Members, The 2022 BOA Future Leaders Programme (FLP) has launched and applications are now open. Both the British Association of Spine Surgeons (BASS) and the British Scoliosis Society (BSS) will be sponsoring one fellow each for the 2022 FLP. These two places are only open to members of BASS and BSS. Applications will close on 6th September 2021. To be eligible to take part in the programme, when the programme runs, you must be either: • A senior trainee (ST8 or above) • A newly appointed consultant (less than 3 years) • An SAS Surgeon (FRCS Tr & Orth) • A post-CCT Surgeon The successful candidate must also be a BOA member when the programme runs to be eligible to take part. BASS and BSS will have panels to select the successful candidate for these society-funded places. All applications will be anonymised by the BOA to reduce the potential for unconscious bias. Please download the Main BOA Future Leaders Programme application form, provide your CV and complete the Equality and Diversity Monitoring form. Send your completed application to policy@boa.ac.uk More information on the FLP and how to apply is on the BOA website at boa.ac.uk/flp
BSS 2021 is taking place at Surgeons Quarter, Edinburgh on 25-26 November 2021 and now accepting abstract submissions. Deadline for submissions will be 17:00 (5pm) UTC on Friday 10th September 2021 For more information, visit: https://flame.firebird.systems/archer-yates/BSS2021/MySubmissions
Are you completing a research project or data collection exercise you want to have a wider reach with your peers and colleagues?
BSS have some options available for survey distributions:
- Anyone can request a survey distribution to go BSS members by email via the UKSSB Newsletter. To access the request form and for more information, visit: https://www.ukssb.com/survey-distributions
PDF Statement: 210407 - BSS-BASS Statement.pdf
A recent publication of a paper in Bone and Joint Journal highlighted the “worse than death” quality of life scores for a number of patients in pain from arthritis of the hip and knee with lengthened wait times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.1
As spine surgeons managing patients in severe pain due to arthritic conditions as well as severe pain and despair from nerve root compression, we very much echo the concerns from our arthroplasty colleagues about our patient groups.
There are many patients now waiting many months for pain relieving interventions that have not been able to access elective lists due to the capacity issues related to the pandemic. These interventions usually come at the end of a conservative trial that has already failed, meaning that there is no other alternative for these patients whilst waiting. In addition, we have all seen patients progress to neurological compromise during the pandemic, requiring unplanned urgent or emergent surgery as a consequence. Unfortunately, on some occasions these can be irreversible changes. Children with spine deformity have also progressed in terms of their disease whilst waiting.
As organisations with clinician members concerned about the welfare of our patients, we urge that NHS bodies and Trusts work with us to find sustainable solutions to restart elective work in a safe way that allows equity of access to “COVID green” pathways, critical care facilities and MRSA screened facilities for spine surgery patients. We recognise that care needs to be focussed on clinical priorities, but welcome reassurance that the FSSA prioritisation categories are honoured regardless of underlying surgical condition. We also urge that resources are used to improve the well-being of all patients with awful pain that are awaiting surgery as soon as possible.
References: 1 https://online.boneandjoint.org.uk/doi/full/10.1302/0301-620X.103B.BJJ-2021-0104.R1
The British Association of Spine Surgeons (BASS) and the British Scoliosis Society (BSS) recorded six webinars for the British Orthopaedic Association 2020 Virtual Congress revalidation sessions.
To view each of the videos, click the links below:
We are looking for submissions of abstracts for both oral and/or poster presentations, so please submit your research for consideration.
There will be awards and prizes for the best presentations, along with publication of all successfully selected and presented abstracts after the event (specific journal TBC)
The deadline for submissions is 23:59 on Tuesday 1st August 2019
Link to portal: https://flame.firebird.systems/archer-yates/BSS2019/mysubmissions/
Submissions will NOT be accepted after this date. A review process will take place after closing and we intend to notify successful submitting authors by the end of August 2019.
If you encounter any issues whilst submitting your abstracts, please contact our administrative support at ukssb@boa.ac.uk, or the BSS2019 event managers on bss@archer-yates.co.uk for assistance.
We are very excited to receive your abstracts, and look forward to seeing you in Cardiff in November!
PARIS - Dr. Yves Cotrel passed away January 29, 2019, at the age of 93.
Recognized worldwide as the inventor of groundbreaking implantable spinal instrumentation, Yves Cotrel revolutionized scoliosis surgery in 1983. Developed with Jean Dubousset, orthopedic surgeon from Saint-Vincent de Paul in Paris, the CD instrumentation (Cotrel-Dubousset) makes it possible to correct the alignment of the vertebral column and to consolidate the straightened segment. Thanks to the very high stab
“The story of my professional life has been marked by unforeseen and sometimes traumatic events....While I was destined for the career of obstetrician and planned to settle in Brittany, I was suddenly sent to Berck, in the north of France, to become an orthopedic surgeon. I would stay there for thirty years."
Born April 27, 1925 in Dinan, Yves Cotrel devoted his lif
ility of the CD assembly, uncomfortable plaster casts and corsets that patients were required to wear for nearly a year after the operation, were rendered unnecessary. To date, the CD devices have been implanted in more than two million patients worldwide.
e to scoliosis. From 1948 on, as head of the orthopedic department of the Institut Calot of Berck, France, he dedicated his expertise and empathy to serve his patients, who were often very young, and at the time were condemned to cumbersome, unsightly treatments, and long periods of immobilization at the hospital.
In 1975, he experienced three successive cardiac arrests forcing him to stop all professional activity. Unemployed, he discovered a vocation as a researcher. He could then put to use the sense of innovation he had acquired during a six month fellowship in United States in 1958 when he became familiar with the American techniques of the time. Three years later, a whole new implantable metal instrumentation emerged from a modest DIY workshop in his house in Brittany.
Although declared "permanently disabled," nothing shook his passion, his curiosity, or his desire for action. He travelled the world to train surgeons in the new technique; he attended classes and lectures,
one after another, and participated in exchanges of professional societies and welcomed fellows to Paris from all over the world.
In 1999, with the agreement of his wife Marie-Lou and their eight children, this man of passion, heart, and science created, under the auspices of the Institut de France, a foundation * for research on pathologies of the spine, which bears his name. "I wish that with the means, which I now have today at my disposal, to serve to continue the research for the benefit of a pathology to which I received the mission to work ..."
Today, the Cotrel Foundation supports more than 60 teams of researchers from around the world to take up Dr. Yves Cotrel's challenge: to reveal the secrets of idiopathic scoliosis, its causes and mechanisms of evolution.
According to his wishes, donations to the Cotrel - Institut de France * Foundation would be preferred to flowers.
*www.fondationcotrel.org
There has been recent publicity regarding the use of new orthopaedic implants, and there were some critical comments about the MAGEC spinal rod in particular.
The concerns raised are purely related to growing rod-type implants. There are no concerns about metal-wear debris or early failure rate with traditional spinal fusion rods.
We, the British Scoliosis Society, the British Orthopaedic Association and the United Kingdom Spine Societies Board (BSS, BOA, UKSSB) are seeking to address some of the issues raised, and to explain the background and thought processes behind use of the MAGEC rod in children with scoliosis.
MAGEC rods have been available for 10 years in the United Kingdom, and have been used by spinal surgeons specialising in children’s spinal deformity surgery.
MAGEC and other growing spine systems are used in children with progressive scoliosis who are too young to perform a full spinal fusion and need a "growing" system to help straighten the spine but still allowing growth.
There are of course alternatives to MAGEC:
Continue to observe or brace – the problem with this is that curves in young children often progress with worsening bodily deformity and potential for chest problems if the curves get large.
Full spinal fusion – this is not advisable in younger children who have a lot of growth remaining. This will leave them with a shorter trunk and potentially compromised lung development.
Traditional growing rods (TGR) – these growing rods pre-dated MAGEC rods and were previously the procedure of choice for young children with spinal deformity. They are similar to MAGEC in that they allow growth of the spine whilst helping to straighten the spine. However, in contrast to MAGEC (which is lengthened awake in the clinic), TGR requires operations to lengthen the rod every six months. TGR patients often require 10 or more operations over the course of their treatment. There is a significant complication rate with this form of surgery, as well as pain and time off school after every surgery and the concerns around multiple anaesthetics.
Spinal surgeons, specialising in paediatric spinal deformity surgery, in general have selected MAGEC rods over TGR for the following reasons:
Similar spinal growth with MAGEC overall compared to TGR
Although there are more unplanned operations with MAGEC rods (for failure of the driving mechanism or related rod problems), because there is no requirement for planned regular open lengthenings, the overall number of operations in MAGEC patients is significantly lower than those with TGR.
Because of the significant reduction of open surgeries in patients with MAGEC compared with TGR, the infection rate in MAGEC is roughly one quarter of the rate in the TGR group. Infection with spinal implants is a potentially devastating complication with the potential need for removal of all the rods, long hospital stays and prolonged operations.
MAGEC rods do not always perform perfectly; in some, the mechanism fails and the rods fail to lengthen as expected and this can sometimes be associated with staining of the tissues around the MAGEC rods with metal wear dust (called metallosis). There is no current known risk associated with this metal staining but of course it is necessary to monitor for any potential problems that may arise. We are very aware of this and are following up this potential problem closely.
Following the decision by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to make MAGEC rods the preferred choice of growing rod treatment in progressive early onset scoliosis, the British Scoliosis Society (BSS) advised spinal surgeons to submit the details of MAGEC operations to the British Spine Registry so that we could monitor the use and outcome of the system. The BSS position is that any MAGEC rods that are removed, for whatever reason – such as breakage, failure to lengthen, or because the patient has reached the stage where definitive fusion is required – should be submitted to one of the recognised, independent engineering laboratories for rigorous analysis and investigation. Each year, we have discussed the outcomes at our National Annual General Meeting and the agreement has been to date, that whilst there are some problems with the use of MAGEC rods, as there are with any treatment options for this condition, that they remain the best available option for many children with severe, life threatening scoliosis.
The deformed spine in the growing child is an extremely difficult problem. With any growing spine intervention (TGR, MAGEC or others), there will be problems. Rods break, screws come loose, infections occur. The problems occur because we are trying to balance two diametrically opposed goals 1. To control and straighten the spine 2. To allow the spine to grow and restrict movement as little as possible. The expertise in children’s spinal surgery, is understanding these conflicts, difficulties and critically informing patients and families about the difficult path they have ahead of them.
We (the BSS, the BOA and the UKSSB), together with your regional spinal unit are of the agreed position that whilst there are problems with the MAGEC rods, that they remain the optimal choice in many children with severe, progressive spinal deformity.
We would recommend you discuss this issue further with your own surgical unit, who should answer your questions, and together with the information above, will hopefully go some way to allaying your concerns.
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