Kyphosis (patient information)

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 * Jinhui Wu, MD Associate Editor-In-Chief: Ujjwal Rastogi, MBBS [mailto:urastogi@perfuse.org]

Overview
Kyphosis is a curving of the spine that causes appearance of hunchback. It can occur as a result of poor posture of teenagers, osteoporosis in elderly, degenerative diseases, connective tissue disorders, tumor, or trauma to the spine. Patients with kyphosis may experience symptoms of fatigue, back pain, and tenderness and stiffness in the back. Severe cases may affect cardiac and pulmonary problems, causing shortness of breath or chest pain. Spine images may help identify the underlying causes. Treatment and prognosis of kyphosis vary from person to person, depending on the causes.

What are the symptoms of Kyphosis?
Patients with kyphosis may experience the following symptoms. With the disease progresses, patients may show symptoms of cardiac and pulmonary problems.
 * Appearance of hunchback
 * Fatigue
 * Back pain
 * Tenderness and stiffness in the back
 * Shortness of breath
 * Chest pain

Who is at highest risk?

 * Osteoporosis
 * Disk degeneration such as arthritis
 * Ankylosing spondylitis
 * Connective tissue disorders such as Marfan syndrome
 * Muscular dystrophy
 * Neurofibromatosis
 * Paget's disease
 * Polio
 * Spina tuberculosis
 * Spina tumors
 * Spina bifida
 * Scoliosis
 * Trauma
 * Poor posture of teen-agers

When to seek urgent medical care?
Go to hospital to reveal the underlying causes of your kyphosis.

Treatment options
The goal of examination is to reveal the underlying cause of kyphosis.
 * Medical history
 * Physical examination
 * Appearance: The doctor will look at your back and find the abnormalities.
 * Palpation: The doctor touches your spine and feel whether there is any tenderness or stiffness in the back.
 * Adam's forward bending test: The goal of the test is to show abnormal appearance. During the procedure, the examiner stands behind the patient and ask him/her to bent forward. Patients with kyphosis may appear a rounded curve or a more angular curve.


 * Spine x-ray or MRI: These images may not only show the abnormalities of the spine, but also help identify the underlying causes of kyphosis by producing very detailed pictures.

Treatment of kyphosis depends on the underlying causes.
 * Correct poor posture and sleep on a firm bed. This correction may be helpful for patients with postural kyphosis.
 * Medications: Pain reliever such as NASIDs can be used to decrease pain. Ca-D may be recommended to old patients with osteoporosis-related kyphosis. Antibiotics should be prescribed to patients with kyphosis caused by infections. Chemotherapy should be considered to those whose kyphosis are caused by tumors.
 * Physical therapy: The physical therapist trains the patient to do some exercises to strengthen back muscles. This treatmen may help alleviate symptoms.
 * Surgery: Surgery for kyphosis may be necessary if neurological symptoms develop. And, it helps patients with congenital kyphosis or tumors. Also, It needs to be considered to patients who can not response well to medications, or who continues to worsen.

Where to find medical care for Kyphosis?
Directions to Hospitals Treating kyphosis

Prevention of Kyphosis
Prevention of kyphosis depends on the underlying causes. For teenagers, keeping a good posture is very important.

What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?
Prognosis of kyphosis depends on:
 * Underlying causes: Prognosis of patients with kyphosis caused by tumors is poor than other causes.
 * Whether the patient is accompanied with complications such as decreased lung function, disabling back pain, neurological symptoms iand round back deformity.

Source
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001240.htm