DEFINITION Scoliosis is a curve or a complex of curves in the rachis which become manifest mainly on the frontal plane, showing a structural deformity (with more or less evident aesthetic alterations) which can be noticed through a rotation of the vertebrae on their own axis visible – on the patients back – through a bulge called hump; this deformity is ...read more
INCIDENCE RATE AND EVOLUTION Statistically, 5 to 7 % of youngsters suffer from idiopathic scoliosis during their growth, in the ratio of 7 to 1 of women compared to men; only 5 cases out of 1,000 evolve to heavy worsening, so much so that – when not treated – they make it necessary to have recourse to surgery; in the other cases, the scoliosis remains stable or gets worse very slowly, without needing any care if the clinical test (as we will see further on, it is the hump itself that provides a control, on its evolution over time through its measurement). John Cobb, the master of orthopaedics, already stressed that the treatment of scoliosis only needs – in most cases – “a strong therapy of waiting”. Although ...read more
DIAGNOSIS The clinical test follows these modes (first examination): - Short anamnestic investigation on previous scoliosis cases in family members and relatives (when necessary, recording the gathered information in a report) - Chronological age of the undressed subject (the woman wearing her panties and bra and the man wearing only his briefs), noting down the state and the development of the characteristics ... read more
X-RAY EVALUATION It must be carried out making X-rays of the backbone from the occiput to the sacrum, standing straight, in the two antero-posterior and lateral projections (30 x 80 X-ray photographs). The X-rays can reveal:
the seat of the curves
PROGNOSIS Given a scoliotic curve, what about its destiny? The concept of prognosis must be meant in the sense of an obliged potential worsening, for – except from a few unusual forms of childhood idiopathic scoliosis, which heal spontaneously (resolving), for all the other forms the forecast does not imply a healing and they all have a ...read more
CONCLUSIVE CONSIDERATIONS Complications in the corset therapy are not so frequent; the commonest problem is the psychological one. In the treatment of these patients, considerable aptitudes are necessary by the practitioner; the family and the physician must support the child throughout this period of stress. When the corset is rejected by the patient for psychological reasons, ...read more
