Pune: Doctors urge screening at schools for early detection of scoliosis

With 10 million scoliosis cases in the country, doctors strongly prescribe a school-level screening programme for early diagnosis.

“In an X-ray, the spine of a person with scoliosis looks more like an ‘S’ or ‘C’ than a straight line. These curves can make a person’s shoulders or waist appear uneven. These curves cannot be corrected simply by learning to stand up straight,” said Dr Ketan Khurjekar, chief spine surgeon at Sancheti hospital who treated Kreesha and performs 80-85 surgeries to correct this disorder every year.

According to Dr Khurjekar, who recently attended the Scoliosis Research Society’s meeting at Amsterdam, most cases of scoliosis are mild but some spine deformities continue to get more severe as children grow and this can be disabling. “Early detection can prevent surgery,” he said, adding that efforts are under way under the aegis of the Association of Spine Surgeons of India to start a school-level screening programme for scoliosis.

Dr Rajesh Parasnis, who is a spine surgeon at Oyster and Pearl hospital and has performed over 500 such surgeries to treat scoliosis, said at least one per cent of the population suffers from this condition. “Children with mild scoliosis can be monitored closely to check if the curve is getting worse. In several cases no treatment is necessary. However, a simple test at the school level that can be explained to teachers can help the medical community diagnose scoliosis at an early stage,” Dr Parasnis said. “While it may not be a primary source for diagnosis, the Adams forward bend test is used in many situations to diagnosis scoliosis,” he added.

According to experts, scoliosis typically appears before or during puberty. In schools, teachers can be taught on how to use the Adams forward bend test where the child stands and bends forward at the waist with the examiner assessing the symmetry of the back and to observe the presence of an imbalanced rib cage with one side being higher than the other, Dr Parasnis said.

A parent, whose 14-year-old daughter was recently operated for scoliosis, recalled that sometimes she had no symptoms and was pretty normal. The parent, who wished not to be named, said it was only when she happened to hug her daughter that she felt the slight hump in her back and after a random internet search found it linked to scoliosis.

“Definitely, a school-level screening programme can help pick up cases at an early stage,” she said.

Moreover, experts in the International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health have also stressed that early detection of scoliosis prevents progression into a severe form and in a place like India there is a need for cost-effective solutions for screening.