Quality Reports - Orthopedics
Survival by Diagnosis
Why we measure it - Overwhelmingly, survival is the first and most important statistic parents and others ask about. We measure survival for a number of diagnoses and compare ourselves to the national average to make sure we are providing excellent care.
About the data - The data reflect patient survival undergoing select orthopedic procedures at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin compared to Pediatric Hospital Information System (PHIS) peers. PHIS hospitals represent other leading free-standing pediatric hospitals.
What this means - We have a 99.68 percent survival rate for patients undergoing scoliosis surgery and a 100 percent survival rate for patients undergoing spinal fusion.
Related dimensions of care:
 
What we're doing to provide the best care:
- General
- We have pediatric-trained anesthesiologists and an excellent Pediatric Intensive Care Unit staffed by pediatric experts. This helps us achieve great outcomes.
- We work closely with the Pain Management team to reduce pain after orthopedic surgery and keep children as comfortable as possible.
- Orthopedic staff is involved in basic science and clinical research including:
- Improving ways of mapping the spine to monitor scoliosis without using X-rays.
- Growth modulation devices to correct scoliosis without fusion.
- We have a pediatric orthopedic nurse clinician who coordinates inpatient stays, discharge planning and follow-up clinic visits.
- Roger Lyon, MD, and Jeffrey Schwab, MD, are listed in the 2007-2008 Best Doctors in America® database. Nationally, fewer than 3 to 5 percent of all physicians are listed.
- Scoliosis
- Our goal is to manage scoliosis without surgery, however, when surgery is needed, orthopedic surgeons at Children's Hospital perform the most advanced techniques of scoliosis surgery, including a fairly new procedure that dramatically reduces recovery time from months to days.
- We hold a surgical support group every other month for children needing scoliosis surgery. A multidisciplinary medical team offers information about the surgery and what to expect while in the hospital, and past surgical patients talk about their experiences. The meeting is followed by a tour of the surgery area and a patient room.
- Spine
- During spinal surgery, patients receive real-time spinal cord monitoring supervised by a trained neurologist to assess both motor and somatosensory evoked potential.
- We specialize in performing spinal surgeries on children with special health care needs, including muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and spina bifida who often require additional expertise because of their multiple medications and complex health histories.
- Club Foot
- We use the Ponseti casting technique to treat clubfoot, which shows better long-term outcomes while avoiding surgery in most cases.
Patients/Families:
- Take a pre-operative tour, which will help prepare patients and families for the procedure and hospital stay.
- Follow all eating and drinking restrictions before surgery.
- Bring a list of the medications your child takes with you on the day of the surgery. Make sure to include the name of the medication, the dose/amount and how your child takes it (swallows a pill, drinks a liquid). This is important information to help us care for your child while he or she is in the hospital.
- Provide your referring doctor's name and address so we can send a detailed letter about the surgery that is performed.
- Be an advocate for your child. Participate in daily bedside clinical discussions and provide any information about your child that may be helpful to staff.
- Ask questions if you don't understand the plan of care or if you are not sure how to care for your child at home.
- Attend any and all follow-up appointments.
- If you cannot keep a scheduled appointment, please call Central Scheduling, at (877) 607-5280 or (414) 607-5280 as soon as possible to reschedule so another child can be seen.
If you have questions about this data or information, e-mail us or call (414) 266-6556.
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