Milwaukee brace treatment of idiopathic scoliosis: late results.
Forty-seven patients returned for examination, X-ray and statistical analysis of the results more than 5 years after Milwaukee braces had been discontinued. The mean curves showed a characteristic pattern of rapid improvement after the brace was applied and then gradual loss of correction during the follow-up. There was no statistically significant variation when the results were analyzed according to initial age, initial curve size, or curve pattern. One-third of the patients lost 5 degrees or less after their braces were discontinued at skeletal age 18. The other two-thirds progressed, with the loss of a degree or two a year until their improvement stabilized in the mid or late twenties. More flexible curves stabilized later and lost more correction. Although the mean overall improvement was only slightly more than 3 degrees there was a range from a gain of 40 degrees to a loss of 26 degrees. The 2 most important findings were the tremendous variation in the age at which stabilization or correction occurred and the variability of end results.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001915:Braces; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D011859:Radiography; D012008:Recurrence; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D014922:Wisconsin