In this study, 31 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients were evaluated retrospectively. Posterior instrumentation and fusion were applied to the patients as surgical intervention. The patients were divided into two groups according to the application of either hooks or pedicle screws at the superior vertebrae of instrumentation. The capital angle between inferior end plate of the superior vertebrae of the instrumented spine and the superior end plate of the vertebrae two levels above was measured. The two groups were compared in the preoperative, early postoperative and late postoperative periods by using lateral roentgenograms in terms of the angle of proximal junctional kyphosis.
The results of this study demonstrated that the angle degree of the proximal junctional kyphosis increased significantly more in the pedicle screw group early in the postoperative period than the hook group and resulted in abnormal proximal junctional kyphosis.
The fixation was established adequately rigid and proximal junctional kyphosis was measured higher in pedicle screw group than hook group. Only one patient had abnormal angle in our study and we attributed this low number of patients to the short follow-up time of these patients.
Keywords: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, proximal junctional kyphosis, pedicle screw, hook.