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Asa C. and Dorothy W. Jones Professor
- Chief of pediatric and adult spinal surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery (http://news-info.wustl.edu/group/page/normal/79.html)
Expertise: Scoliosis, spine surgery, orthopaedic surgery
Bio: The Asa C. and Dorothy W. Jones Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bridwell is the chief of both pediatric and adult spinal surgery and a specialist in the treatment of scoliosis.
Education:
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A.B. in Biology and Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis
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M.D. at Washington University School of Medicine
Additional Background: Keith H. Bridwell, M.D., is chief of pediatric and adult spinal surgery at the School of Medicine and current president of the Scoliosis Research Society. He also sits on the society's board of directors. Bridwell assumed that position last September. He serves as deputy editor of the journal Spine, has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Spinal Disorders and peer reviews articles for the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. In addition, he served as co-editor-in-chief of The Textbook of Spinal Surgery, 1st and 2nd Editions.
Most of Bridwell's patients are adults and children with scoliosis, a condition in which the spine is curved — not the normal curves that round the shoulders and make the lower back curve slightly inward. Patients with scoliosis have spines that curve side to side, so the problem cannot be corrected simply by learning to stand up straight. In a growing child, spinal braces can sometimes either correct the deformity or keep it from getting worse, but in adults, the prescribed treatment usually is surgical. Bridwell uses various techniques — first to loosen up the spine somewhat, then to straighten and stabilize it with bone grafts or with proteins that become bone and fuse together segments of the spine.
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