It's hard to say...
Sounds like she was in a pretty good wreck to have all that damage... so... I wouldn't rule out that she could have injured her spine bad enough to cause some curve. BUT....
Scoliosis happens without cause all the time. MOST scoliosis doesn't have a known cause.
My surgeons speculate that a bad horse accident I had may have played a part in the development of my curve.... BUT... it's not something that can be proved.
One thing... if it was caused by trauma, if the surgery she has does something to alleviate her pain then I'd expect the scoliosis to improve once she is recovered well from this op...
If it doesn't improve (in spite of alleviation of pain and neurological symptoms), then I'd be wlling to bet that it has been there all along and was simply missed by the family doctor...
Talk to her spinal surgeon more about the scoliosis. See if you can get a referral to go see a scoliosis specialist (they're orthopedic surgeons). They will be able to give you an accurate picture of the severity of the curve (and then you'll know if treatment would be required), see if there's another cause for it (when I was diagnosed, I was worked up for tumors in the bone, cysts in the spinal cord, fractures, dystrophy...
Chiropractors can be useful in treating pain in some instances... But those that claim to be able to fix a curve are generally full of it. As the spine curves, the vertibrae reshape, and the curve becomes structural. You can push the bones back into "alignment", but they are wedge shaped, and any correction is short lived.
Another possibility is that her scoliosis was simply missed by a family doctor and school screenings as a youngster.... That happens more than you'd think! Someone posted about their child (I forget if it was on here or another board), who was already diagnosed with scoliosis and (I believe) getting ready to go into bracing, and the school screening MISSED that she had scoliosis, even after she'd been diagnosed by a scoliosis specialist.
Questions to be asked:
Severity of the curve? Degree measurement will be given... In adults, most surgeons will not operate unless a curve is over 50 degrees (some say 60 degrees) or there has been rapid progression
Stability of the curve? (Is it progressing- increasing over time?)(curves are less likely to increase in adulthood, but it can and does happen. I'm proof of that).
If 1) the curve is unstable and 2) the curve is severe enough, should surgery be considered?
If so, what levels of the spine will be fused? Will the surgery be done posterior (from the back only) or anterior/posterior (where they do some of the surgery through the side, and the rest through the back)
Sorry to ramble on... That's just my $0.02 on things
Dec 15th, 2003 @ age of 20
Posterior Fusion and CD Horizon instrumentation T2-L1.
Surgery by Dr. Herkowitz- Beaumont Hospital of Royal Oak, Michigan
Excellent correction of 52 degree single left thoracolumbar curve. Slight curve remains in unfused lumbar region but seems stable.
February 5, 2005- Failed Scar Revision Surgery
September 17, 2005- 2nd Failed Scar Revision.