Effect of a Long-Term Corrective Exercises With Using Brace on Cobb Angle and Postural Control of a Girl With Adolescence Idiopathic Scoliosis

Purpose: Scoliosis is a three-dimensional deformity of the spine in which the resulting imbalance accompanied by the changes in muscle and nervous components can harm the postural control. Various treatments have been suggested so far to correct scoliosis, in which using corrective exercises along with brace are essential to limit the growing curvature, improve spine stability and postural control, and reduce the degree of curvature. Methods: Our case was a 14-year-old girl who had a 40-degree thoracic curve (T6 to T11) toward the right and a 50-degree lumbar curvature (T12 to L4) toward the left. To evaluate her scoliosis, we took side view radiography for 4 to 6 months. Also, we used balance master posturography to assess the patient's postural control before and after the intervention. The patient's treatment process included a long-term implementation of a corrective exercise protocol in 3 phases plus using the Milwaukee brace. Results: The Cobb angle in the kyphosis curve showed a 15-degree improvement. Also, the Cobb angle showed a 32-degree correction in the thoracic curve and a 30-degree reduction in the lumbar curve. A significant improvement was observed in all of the tests of postural control, indicating improved balance and postural control of the subject during corrective exercises. Conclusion: Simultaneous using the brace and long-term corrective exercises with emphasis on the improvement of postural control could be useful in improving the scoliosis curves in an adolescent girl with idiopathic scoliosis.