The current status of bracing for patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.
Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis affects about 3% of children. Non-operative measures are aimed at altering the natural history to maintain the size of the curve below 40° at skeletal maturity. The application of braces to treat spinal deformity pre-dates the era of evidence-based medicine, and there is a paucity of irrefutable prospective evidence in the literature to support their use and their effectiveness has been questioned. This review considers this evidence. The weight of the evidence is in favour of bracing over observation. The most recent literature has moved away from addressing this question, and instead focuses on developments in the design of braces and ways to improve compliance.
Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, Division of Spine Surgery, Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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Stokes
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Luk
D000293:Adolescent; D001915:Braces; D004867:Equipment Design; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*
AIS; Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis; Bracing; Idiopathic; Scoliosis