ArticleSpine deformity2021
Serum metal ion levels in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients 25 years after treated with Harrington rod instrumentation or bracing.
Article in Spine deformity, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Abnormal metal ion levels following spinal instrumentation surgery.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Pooled it
- Comparison of blood metal ion levels in scoliosis patients following instrumented spinal fusion with cobalt-chromium and titanium alloy rods.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Serum metal ion levels following spinal deformity surgery: a case-control study of 182 individuals.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionSurgical instrumentation in children with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is performed early in life and the implants are left in situ for the rest of the patient's life. Concern has been raised regarding persistent elevated levels of serum metal ions, but only a few studies on the topic have been published. The aim of this study was to compare the levels of serum metal ions in patients with AIS treated with either Harrington rod instrumentation or bracing. MATERIALS AND
methodsAIS patients treated with Boston brace (BB) or posterior spinal fusion with Harrington rod instrumentation (HR) from 1983 to 1990 were requested to return to clinic. One hundred fifty-nine (73%) of 219 patients were available for follow-up of whom 115 agreed to have a blood draw.
resultsThe proportion of patients who agreed to have a blood draw were similar in the BB (48 of 100, 48%) and HR (67 of 115, 60%, p = 0.085) groups. None of the surgical patients had their implants removed; mean age at follow-up (BB: 43.2 years vs HR: 43.5 years, p = 0.566) and mean length of follow-up (BB: 26.5 years vs HR: 24.5 years). Mean chromium serum levels were similar between the BB (2.7 nmol/L) and the HR (2.9 nmol/L, p = 0.827). Mean Cobalt serum levels were also similar between the BB (2.6 nmol/L) and the HR (2.8 nmol/L, p = 0.200).
conclusionSerum metal ions were similar in AIS patients treated with bracing or Harrington rod instrumentation 25 years after initiation of treatment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.