Treatment of lumbar curves in scoliotic adolescent females with progressive action short brace: a case series based on the Scoliosis Research Society Committee Criteria.

STUDY
DESIGN: A prospective interventional study.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the outcomes of adolescents affected by idiopathic lumbar scoliosis treated with a progressive action short brace (PASB). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The efficacy of conservative treatment of scoliosis is still debated. In a recent study, we showed that the PASB was effective in correcting deformities in adolescents with idiopathic thoracolumbar scoliosis. The purpose of the present study was to extend our preliminary findings by determining the results of PASB treatment in scoliotic adolescents with lumbar curves.
METHODS: Patients were 40 adolescent girls (age [mean ± SD] = 11.6 ± 0.7 yr]) with lumbar curves and a pretreatment Risser score between 0 and 2. All patients were prescribed with a full-time PASB. The minimum duration of follow-up was 24 months (mean ± SD = 41.6 ± 34.5 mo). Anteroposterior radiographs were used to estimate the curve magnitude (CM) and the torsion of the apical vertebra (TA) at 5 time points: beginning of treatment (t1), 1 year after the beginning of treatment (t2), intermediate time between t1 and t4 (t3), end of weaning (t4), and 2-year minimum follow-up from t4 (t5). Three outcomes were distinguished: curve correction, curve stabilization, and curve progression. RESULTS.: A significant reduction in CM was achieved from t1 (Cobb angle [mean ± SD] = 26.4° ± 2.8) to t5 (Cobb angle [mean ± SD] = 13.8° ± 7.9; P < 0.001). Likewise, the PASB reduced TA from Perdriolle rotation angles of 10.8° (SD = 3.7) at t1 to 7.9° (SD = 4.2) at t5 (P < 0.05). Curve correction was accomplished in 82.5% of patients, whereas curve stabilization was obtained in 17.5% of patients. None of the patients experienced curve progression.
CONCLUSION: The PASB allows a complete curve correction in most cases. No patients exhibited curve progression.