Chiropractic rehabilitation plus nighttime bracing for progressive adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a case-controlled series

Non-operative treatments for scoliosis include various types of scoliosis-specific exercise therapies, as well as dynamic and rigid spinal orthoses. Although there are many studies evaluating various types of bracing-only constructs for scoliosis treatment, few have evaluated bracing when combined with chiropractic care. The present study analyzed the data of 18 patients from the initiation a chiropractic rehabilitation program combined with nighttime bracing. Patients were managed through the end of growth, and results were compared to baseline. Their collective results were compared to a similar group of previously published patients who participated in the same chiropractic rehabilitation program, but did not perform concurrent bracing treatment. Patients initiating the combined chiropractic and bracing treatment achieved a correction of 6° or more 81% of the time, while the remaining 19% remained within 5° of their baseline measurements. The average curve improvement was 9.4°. This was compared to a correction rate of 51.7%, a stabilization rate of 38.3%, and a progression rate of 10% in the group performing chiropractic rehabilitation only.