In our centre, the postoperative
scoliosis rehabilitation consists in stabilizing postural and respiratory exercises lasting several hours a day (5 1/2 to 7 hours). Additionally to
pain treatment, we apply
pain physiotherapy,
physical therapy, acupuncture and besides manual medicine, also a psychological intervention and
pain treatment by medication. 46 patients suffered from heavier
pain 10 or more years after
scoliosis surgery. The patients reported their
pain at the beginning and at the end of 3-6 week in-patient rehabilitation programme. We applied a visual analogous scale (
VAS), a numerical scale (NS), a standardized adjective scale (VRS), and a
pain frequency scale. All the patients with an average age of 36 years old (SD=16) and an average curve angle of 35 degrees thoracic (SD=36) and 26 degrees lumbar (SD=22) showed a decrease of the values on the
pain intensity scale.
Pain reduction was highly significant, as well as
pain frequency.
Chronic pain as a late result following
scoliosis surgery can be reduced by an intensive in-patient rehabilitation, at least in the short term. There are further necessary studies in order to follow-up the long-term effect of postoperative rehabilitation.