• Harry Hothi, Stewart Tucker, Masood Shafafy, Colin Nnadi, Cheung Kenneth M C KMC Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The University of Hong Kong, 102 Pokfulam Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China., Elisabetta Dal Gal, Martina Tognini, Johann Henckel, John Skinner, and Alister Hart.
• The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science, University College London, Brockley Hill, Stanmore, HA74LP, UK. h.hothi@ucl.ac.uk.
• Eur Spine J. 2020 Oct 1; 29 (10): 2409-2412.

IntroductionAt the time of writing, we are all coping with the global COVID-19 pandemic. Amongst other things, this has had a significant impact on postponing virtually all routine clinic visits and elective surgeries. Concurrently, the Magnetic Expansion Control (MAGEC) rod has been issued with a number of field safety notices and UK regulator medical device alerts.MethodsThis document serves to provide an overview of the current situation regarding the use of MAGEC rods, primarily in the UK, and the impact that the pandemic has had on the management of patients with these rods.Results And ConclusionThe care of each patient must of course be determined on an individual basis; however, the experience of the authors is that a short delay in scheduled distractions and clinic visits will not adversely impact patient treatment. The authors caution against a gap in distractions of longer than 6 months and emphasise the importance of continued remote patient monitoring to identify those who may need to be seen more urgently.

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