Ankylosing spondylitis: Experience in surgical management of 21 patients

Between 1976 and 1984, twenty-one patients with ankylosing spondylitis were treated surgically. Eight patients with rigid thoracic kyphosis underwent a two-stage combined procedure. The average correction was 36°. Eight patients underwent a single-stage lumbar osteotomy with Harrington compression instrumentation. The average correction was 31°. Five patients presented with stress fractures and back pain. All underwent combined anterior and posterior surgery. The average correction was 9°. Two patients underwent anterior decompression for progressive paraplegia. Both showed improvement in neurologic function. At follow-up, all but one patient had improvement in pain and spinal alignment. There have been no deaths or persistent neurologic problems from these procedures.