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Changes in research quality and surgical trends at the international congress on early-onset scoliosis

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Abstract

Purpose

The founding of the International Congress for Early Onset Scoliosis (ICEOS) and first annual meeting in 2007 represented a significant milestone in advancing the care of patients with EOS. Due to the complexity and rarity of EOS, this annual conference is the premiere venue for physicians, researchers, and advanced practice providers to identify and understand the best treatments for children with EOS. This study examines the trend of various treatment modalities presented at ICEOS and the changes in research quality since its inception.

Methods

Podium presentations from the 2007 through 2021 ICEOS annual meetings were reviewed to determine the number of study patients, use of a study group, and key features of study design. Treatment strategies being evaluated were recorded and included non-operative treatments (casting/bracing), traditional growing rods (TGR), vertical expandable prosthetic titanium rib (VEPTR), Shilla growth guidance, magnetically controlled growing rods (MCGR), and vertebral body tethering (VBT). Linear regressions were performed to analyze changes in research topic and study group utilization.

Results

A total of 532 abstracts were reviewed. An average of 97.5 ± 81.3 patients were included per study with a significant increase from 42.3 ± 89.7 in 2007 to 337.6 ± 587.4 in 2021 (r2 = 0.632, p < 0.001). A total of 130 (24.4%) abstracts resulted from multicenter study groups with the proportion increasing significantly from 13.0% in 2007 to 36.4% in 2021 (p = 0.039, r2 = 0.289). The majority (96.2%) of study group-based projects were from either the Growing Spine Study Group (GSSG), Chest Wall and Spine Deformity Study Group (CWSDG), Children’s Spine Study Group (CSSG), or the Pediatric Spine Study Group (PSSG). Additionally, a significant increase in studies utilizing patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) was observed (r2 = 0.336, p = 0.023). Significant increases in the proportion of presentations discussing MCGR (r2 = 0.738, p < 0.001) and VBT (r2 = 0.294, p = 0.037) as surgical treatments were observed.

Conclusion

The trends in EOS device implantation observed in registry studies align with the trends in research presented at ICEOS including the increased proportion of studies focusing on MCGR and VBT over the past decade. An attempt to increase the quality of research presented at ICEOS through multicenter study groups, increased patient recruitment, and utilization of PROMs has been seen since its inception.

Level of evidence

V.

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Data availability statement

Datasets analysed in this article are available from the corresponding author if required in the future.

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Funding

The authors received no funding for the preparation of this manuscript. The authors, their immediate family, and any research foundation with which they are affiliated did not receive any financial payments or other benefits from any commercial entity related to the subject of this article. There are no relevant disclosures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    John M. Flynn, Patrick J. Cahill & Jason B. Anari

  2. Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Carina Lott, Abigail J. Clark, John M. Flynn, Patrick J. Cahill & Jason B. Anari

  3. Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA

    Mitchell A. Johnson & Jessica H. Heyer

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  1. Mitchell A. Johnson
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  2. Carina Lott
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  4. John M. Flynn
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  6. Patrick J. Cahill
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  7. Jason B. Anari
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Contributions

MAJ: Writing—original draft preparation; Formal analysis and investigation; Methodology; Writing—review and editing; Critical revision; Accountability; Final approval. CL: Data Acquisition; Methodology; Formal analysis and investigation; Writing—review and editing; Accountability; Final approval. AJC: Data Acquisition; Formal analysis and investigation; Methodology; Writing—review and editing; Critical revision; Accountability; Final approval. John M. Flynn: Conceptualization; Critical revision; Accountability; Supervision; Final approval. JHH:Writing—original draft preparation; Writing—review and editing; Critical revision; Supervision; Accountability; Final approval. PJC: Conceptualization; Critical revision; Supervision; Accountability; Final approval. JBA: Conceptualization; Methodology; Writing—review and editing; Critical revision; Supervision; Accountability; Final approval.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason B. Anari.

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Johnson, M.A., Lott, C., Clark, A.J. et al. Changes in research quality and surgical trends at the international congress on early-onset scoliosis. Spine Deform 11, 707–713 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43390-023-00643-8

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