• Vishal Sarwahi, Sayyida Hasan, Petros Koutsogiannis, Keshin Visahan, Himanshu Rao, Aravind Patil, Yungtai Lo, Terry Amaral, and Jon-Paul DiMauro.
• Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Cohen Children's Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY.
• Spine. 2023 Nov 1; 48 (21): 154415511544-1551.

Study DesignRetrospective Review.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to determine differences in surgical and post-operative outcomes in AIS patients undergoing spinal deformity correction surgery using standard or large pedicle screw size.Summary Of BackgroundUse of pedicle screw fixation in spinal deformity correction surgery is considered safe and effective. Still, the small size of the pedicle and the complex 3D anatomy of the thoracic spine makes screw placement challenging, with improper pedicle screw fixation leading to catastrophic complications including injuries to nerve roots, spinal cord, and major vessels. Thus, insertion of larger diameter screw sizes has raised concerns amongst surgeons, especially in the pediatric population.Materials And MethodsAIS patients undergoing PSF between 2013 and 2019 were included. Demographic, radiographic, and operative outcomes collected. Patients in the large screw size group (GpI) received 6.5 mm diameter screw sizes at all levels while standard screw size group (GpII) received 5.0 to 5.5 mm diameter screw sizes at all levels. Kruskall-Wallis and Fisher's exact test performed for continuous and categorical variables respectively.Subanalyses included (1) screw accuracy in patients with available CT scans, (2) stratified analysis of large- and standard-screw patients with ≥60% flexibility rate, (3) stratified analysis of large- and standard-screw patients with <60% flexibility rate, and (4) matched analysis of large- and standard-screw patients by surgeon and year of surgery.ResultsGpI patients experienced significantly higher overall curve correction ( P <0.001), with 87.6% experiencing at least one grade reduction of apical vertebral rotation from preoperative to postoperative visit( P =0.008).Patients with larger screws displayed higher postoperative kyphosis. No patient experienced medial breaching.ConclusionLarge screw sizes have similar safety profiles to standard screws without negatively impacting surgical and perioperative outcomes in AIS patients undergoing PSF. Additionally, coronal, sagittal, and rotational correction is superior for larger-diameter screws in AIS patients.Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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