Background and purpose: Many conservative treatments are available for adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis, but the evidence for their accepted use is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of braces and other conservative treatments of idiopathic scoliosis in adolescents by systematically reviewing the literature.
Methods: The literature was searched in the PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane, and PEDro databases. Studies were selected if the design was a randomized clinical trial or a controlled clinical trial, if all patients had an idiopathic scoliosis, if all patients were less than 18 years of age during the intervention, and if the type of intervention was a conservative one. Two reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality using the Delphi list and performed data extraction. Analysis was based on the levels of evidence.
Results: Thirteen studies met the final inclusion criteria, showing a wide range of interventions such as bracing, electrical surface stimulation, and exercises.
Discussion and conclusion: The authors conclude that the effectiveness of bracing and exercises is not yet established, but might be promising. They found no evidence of the effectiveness of electrical stimulation.