The effectiveness of orthosis as a treatment for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Abstract

Orthosis is a non-invasive method of treatment for patients with scoliosis, in which prescribed individuals undergo correction of spinal misalignment with the support of a brace. For Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) specifically, which occurs in youth during critical stages of bone development, it is essential to improve the spine’s condition as much as possible before the body fully matures. Although orthosis does not aim to correct the misalignment, it has been proven that bracing will aid in slowing down the progression of deformity. However, a common concern is that the spinal curve will regress back to its original state upon removal of the brace at the end of the treatment period. The aim of this paper therefore is to determine the capabilities of orthosis as a standalone intervention for patients with AIS. A systematic review was performed by consulting the search engines of PubMed Google Scholar and JSTOR, as well as the databases of Medline and OVID. Clinical studies were limited to cohort trials published within the last twenty years which targeted populations of youth to determine the Cobb angle’s rate of progression, regression, and spinal curvature of these patients. When comparing orthosis treatment conditions to the absence of intervention in both short-term and long-term cases, it was evident that there are benefits to the corrective forces applied by the brace that outweigh potential drawbacks. Thus, orthosis has been found to significantly decrease the Cobb angle, making it an effective tool for spinal correction.