Custom moulded plastic spinal orthoses.

A review of fifty patients with wide ranging clinical conditions who had been fitted with one-piece moulded plastic spinal orthoses was carried out to determine prescription criteria for these orthoses. The review showed that patients with scoliosis (idiopathic and paralytic), kyphoscoliosis, as well as a selected number of patients with low back pain derive benefit. Patients with kyphosis and localized vertebral body disease are unlikely to gain benefit since they commonly cannot tolerate the excessive skin pressures which occur as a consequence of the corrective and distractive forces applied by the devices.