The current view on the body mass and body mass index of children with spine deformity due to cerebral palsy: a systematic review

Background. Currently, several authors believe that one of the main risk factors for the development of postoperative complications after surgical correction of scoliosis due to cerebral palsy (CP) is the body weight, changes in it, and the body mass index (BMI). However, a unified approach for the analysis of these indicators in children with CP remains unclear. Aim. Analysis of the available data in the modern literature on the issues of body mass and BMI in children with spine deformity due to CP. Materials and methods. A systematic search of the literature was conducted in open electronic databases of the scientific literature PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE, eLIBRARY, Russian Index of Scientific Citation (RISC), and bibliography of key articles. The criteria of inclusion were systematic reviews, meta-analyses, multicenter studies, controlled cohort studies, uncontrolled cohort studies of children with spine deformities due to CP, and age of the CP patient 20 years, and neuromuscular scoliosis of another etiology. Results. The review primarily included 156 articles with the publication date of 1990–2020. Among them, 25 publications met the following criteria of inclusion: 3 systematic reviews and meta-analysis, 3 population studies, 1 multicenter study, 11 controlled cohort studies, 6 uncontrolled cohort studies, and 1 case-control study. Conclusion. Body mass and BMI correlate with the functional activities of children with scoliosis due to CP. GMFCS stratified growth graphs of children with CP are the most appropriate reference indicators for assessing body mass and BMI of children with CP. Underweight body and low BMI (below the 10 th percentile) are important factors that contribute to high risk of complications after scoliosis surgical correction. In the future, it will be necessary to develop national special centile tables for the optimal assessment of the anthropometric indicators in children with CP.