Anterior release for Scheuermann's disease: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

Anterior release for Scheuermann's disease was considered an important technique for decades. However, posterior-only surgery for Scheuermann's disease has shown a promising potential to manage this deformity, as well. Correction loss could happen post-operatively, especially when posterior-only surgery is performed in the early days. Therefore, a dispute regarding anterior release for Scheuermann's disease exists. We performed a systematic review of studies, reporting the outcomes of anterior release and posterior fusion surgery (AP group) or posterior-only surgery (PO group) for Scheuermann's disease. Data pooling and a meta-analysis with a random-effects model were performed to evaluate the results. Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria. The pooled correction loss of Cobb angle for the AP group was 4.1(3.4, 4.8), and for the PO group, it was 3.8(3.3, 4.4). The overall effects of blood loss, surgery time, proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK), distal junctional kyphosis (DJK), self-image improvement, pain relief, and return-to-surgery were compared between the two groups. A systematic review of the outcomes of Scheuermann's disease demonstrated a very similar correction loss for the AP group and the PO group. A meta-regression supported that correction loss did decrease as time moved on for the PO procedure, which could be explained by the improvements to instrumentation and techniques. For other outcomes, the PO group showed advantages in blood loss, surgery time, and junctional kyphosis. Similar outcomes were observed in relation to aspects of cosmetic improvement and pain relief for the AP and PO groups. The revision rate was mildly lower in the PO group than in the AP group.