%0 Journal Article
%T Effectiveness of Ch¨ºneau brace treatment for idiopathic scoliosis: prospective study in 79 patients followed to skeletal maturity
%A Katarzyna Zaborowska-Sapeta
%A Ireneusz M Kowalski
%A Tomasz Kotwicki
%A Halina Protasiewicz-Fa£¿dowska
%A Wojciech Kiebzak
%J Scoliosis
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1748-7161-6-2
%X A prospective observational study according to SOSORT and SRS recommendations comprised 79 patients (58 girls and 21 boys) with progressive idiopathic scoliosis, treated with Ch¨ºneau brace and physiotherapy, with initial Cobb angle between 20 and 45 degrees, no previous brace treatment, Risser 4 or more at the final evaluation and minimum one year follow-up after weaning the brace. Achieving 50¡ã of Cobb angle was considered surgical recommendation.At follow-up 20 patients (25.3%) improved, 18 patients (22.8%) were stable, 31 patients (39.2%) progressed below 50 degrees and 10 patients (12.7%) progressed beyond 50 degrees (2 of these 10 patients progressed beyond 60 degrees). Progression concerned the younger and less skeletally mature patients.Conservative treatment with Ch¨ºneau orthosis and physiotherapy was effective in halting scoliosis progression in 48.1% of patients. The results of this study suggest that bracing is effective in reducing the incidence of surgery in comparison with natural history.Idiopathic scoliosis is a developmental deformation of the spine and the trunk, which significantly influences the form and function of a young organism. The extensive interest of medical experts in the treatment of spinal deformities results from the incidence of such disorders in the adolescent population (2-3%), health consequences of the disease progression as well as social and economic costs [1-4]. On the other hand, the health related quality of life of the adults with mild to moderate idiopathic scoliosis, including individuals conservatively treated in adolescence, seems very good [5-7]. Bracing and physiotherapy are the non-surgical methods of treatment practiced for mild to moderate scoliosis. The aim of brace treatment is to stop deterioration of the deformity, which is a natural history of progressive scoliosis beyond 25 degrees in immature adolescents. Within the group of rigid Thoraco-Lumbo-Sacral Orthoses (TLSO), the Cheneau brace is most widely used i
%U http://www.scoliosisjournal.com/content/6/1/2