Adult Scoliosis & Deformity Correction

Adult scoliosis surgery realigns a spine that has curved and rotated with age-related degeneration, using pedicle screws and rods across the involved levels, targeted releases and interbody spacers to restore alignment, and direct decompression of the nerves crowded along the curve. Bone graft fuses the corrected segments so the correction holds.

No two deformity operations are the same. The plan is built from standing full-length X-rays and your specific goals — sometimes a focused decompression and short fusion at the worst of the curve, sometimes a longer construct that restores overall balance. Matching the size of the operation to the actual problem is most of the judgment.

Adult degenerative scoliosis becomes surgical when it stops being a curve on an X-ray and starts being the reason you cannot stand upright, walk a grocery store, or escape leg pain — and when braces, therapy, and injections have stopped helping. Surgery addresses both problems at once: the nerve compression causing leg symptoms and the imbalance causing the relentless, end-of-day back fatigue.

The decision is deliberate on both sides. This is among the largest operations in spine surgery, and it is only worth doing when the disability is real and the goals are clear. When it is the right operation for the right patient, restoring alignment and decompressing the nerves can return a quality of life that nothing smaller can.

Surgery typically takes 4–8 hours; complex corrections are sometimes staged across two sittings.

Hospital stay of 3–7 nights, with physical therapy starting early.

Walking begins in the first day or two with support.

A brace may be used for comfort in the early weeks.

Return to desk work in 6–12 weeks; driving when off narcotics and cleared.

Meaningful recovery unfolds over 3–6 months as the fusion matures; most patients continue improving through the first year.