Successful surgery for a neuromuscular scoliosis patient by pulmonary rehabilitation with forced vital capacity below 30%

A rare case of a 15-year-old male patient with neuromuscular scoliosis with forced vital capacity (FVC) below 30%, who went through a successful surgery without any pulmonary complications, is reported herein. The patient had obvious asymmetric shoulders and poor exercise tolerance. The Cobb’s angle of the main thoracic curve was 62.8°, and FVC in sitting position was 18% of predictive value. After skull traction and pulmonary rehabilitation, the FVC was still below 30%, and he finally went through surgery under this serious condition. By early pulmonary rehabilitation using home ventilator, he successfully recovered without any pulmonary complications. The patient had complete symptom remission and no deterioration of Cobb’s angle was found during follow-up.