Brace and Physiotherapeutic Scoliosis Specific Exercises (PSSE) for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) treatment: a prospective study following Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) criteria.
Nikos Karavidas, Dionysios Tzatzaliaris
PMID 36316760WHAT IT FOUND
In adolescents with high-risk idiopathic scoliosis treated with Cheneau brace and Schroth-based exercises, 65.3% remained stable, 23.2% improved, and 11.5% progressed.
No control group was used, so this cannot show whether brace, exercises, or the treatment together caused the result.
Key findings
01In the 95 patients analysed, 62 remained stable, 22 improved by more than 5 degrees, and 11 progressed by more than 5 degrees.
02The lumbar or thoracolumbar Cobb angle change was statistically significant (p = 0.0008), but the thoracic Cobb angle change was not (p = 0.21).
03The 62 patients fully compliant with both brace and exercises had 0% progression, compared with 11.5% in the whole analysed group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
There was no brace-only or untreated comparison group, so the study cannot separate the brace, the exercises, or time. Compliance was reported by families, not measured with brace sensors, so true wear time may be lower. The follow-up stopped when brace treatment ended, so it does not show whether curves stayed stable after growth. Seven of 102 patients withdrew; when they were counted as failures, progression rose from 11.5% to 17.6%. The secondary control group was made by choosing patients less compliant with exercises, not by random assignment.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 88.5% success rate as proof that brace plus PSSE prevents progression. There was no brace-only control, and the thoracic Cobb angle change was not statistically significant (p = 0.21).