Anterior Vertebral Body Tethering: A Nonfusion Surgery for Idiopathic Scoliosis

Idiopathic scoliosis (IS) is a spinal deformity of unknown etiology, and it is the most common spinal deformity in the pediatric population. The treatment of IS is multifactorial but is determined in part by curve magnitude and remaining skeletal growth. The goal of nonoperative treatment of IS is to prevent curve progression during growth, but if curve magnitude continues to progress, the goal of operative treatment becomes curve correction and stabilization. The current gold standard of treatment for progressive IS is a posterior spinal fusion; however, anterior vertebral body tethering (AVBT) is a newer surgical technique which has emerged as a nonfusion option for the treatment of progressive IS in skeletally immature patients. Many recent clinical studies have garnered evidence that AVBT may be a viable treatment option and an alternative to posterior spinal fusion in patients with remaining growth.