Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Effects of Brace on Orthostatic Postural Control - Abstract
Purpose: Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) is associated with neurosensorial disorders that perturb orthostatic posture control. A spinal brace worn for up to 23 hours per day is the main treatment for AIS. The impact of brace-induced correction of scoliotic curvature on orthostatic posture control is unknown. We use posturography recordings to evaluate the effect of wearing the CTM brace on orthostatic postural control in AIS.
Methods: This is a single-center retrospective analysis of routine clinical data. Routine posturography recordings were made in 83 patients with AIS (mean age 14.45±1.77 y; median Cobb angle 31°) using a force plate. The position of the center of pressure and its displacement were recorded in the standing position with and without the anti-scoliosis CTM brace under three test modalities: eyes open on hard plate or on soft plate; eyes closed on hard plate. Patients were their own controls.
Results: Center of pressures way area was significantly increased in all three modalities when the patients wore their CTM brace, particularly in modality “eyes closed” (363 mm² with brace vs 307 mm² without brace, p<0.001). For all conditions, center of pressure velocity was also significantly increased with brace. Posturographic parameters were aggravated most with braces that reduced the scoliotic curvature more than 40%.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated that posturographic parameters are aggravated in patients with AIS when they wear their brace. This finding should be taken into consideration for planning rehabilitation programs to improve orthostatic posture control and for the design of future anti-scoliosis braces.