At Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children, we provide expert spine care for children and teens with scoliosis and other spinal disorders.

Our spine specialists care for a wide range of spinal conditions, including scoliosis, kyphosis, and lordosis. Our team includes pediatric orthopedic surgeons and nonsurgical specialists in pediatric and adolescent sports medicine.

Because children are still growing, we create treatment plans that support both spine health and everyday life.

As Hawaiʻi’s full-service children’s hospital, Kapiʻolani offers the experience and resources needed for safe, effective spine care.

Most spinal conditions in children and teens don't need surgery, but they do need expert care.

Because kids are still growing, our team looks closely at how growth can affect scoliosis, kyphosis, and other spinal conditions. We often begin with nonsurgical treatment, such as physical therapy, including scoliosis-specific physical therapy for idiopathic scoliosis.

For larger curves, we may recommend daytime or nighttime bracing or Mehta casting to help prevent the curve from getting worse. Our brace partners use newer technology, including sensors that track wear time, to help families stick with their treatment plan.

When scoliosis or another spinal deformity becomes more severe, surgery may be the best treatment option. Our team carefully considers age, growth, and the type of curve when planning care.

For younger children, we may recommend expandable growing rods, including MAGEC rods, which can be lengthened in the clinic over time to support growth.

For older children and teens, treatment may include spinal fusion or anterior vertebral body tethering (VBT).

For very severe scoliosis or kyphosis, we may recommend halo-gravity traction before surgery to gently stretch the spine and help improve safety during treatment.

For more than 50 years the gold standard treatment of progressive severe scoliosis has been a spinal fusion. This surgery involves using metal rods and screws to correct spinal deformity, with the goal of a straighter, stable, balanced spine that will not continue to become more crooked over time. After a spinal fusion, the spine motion that remains depends on the number of spinal levels fused and what part of the spine was affected.

In 2019 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved anterior vertebral body tethering (VBT) for treatment of some patients with scoliosis who would otherwise be candidates for fusion. VBT is also called spinal growth tethering surgery.