Evaluation of Chêneau brace in the treatment of thoracic and lumbar adolescent idiopathic scoliosis with apical vertebral rotation.

Background: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a common structural disorder of the spine in adolescents, often associated with structural deformities in both coronal and axial positions. Apical vertex rotation (AVR) is one of the main indicators of axial deformity in patients with scoliosis. Currently, there are few studies on the impact of AVR in the treatment of AIS.

Objective: This study examined the influence of different AVR on AIS after brace treatment.

Methods: Data were collected from 106 AIS participants aged 11-16 years from the orthopedic outpatient clinic of the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University. Two orthopaedic professionals measured the Cobb angle, AVR and spinal mid-line offset before and after brace treatment, and descriptive and linear correlation analyses were used to determine the correlation between AVR and AIS measured parameters.

Results: (1) In AIS volunteers with the same AVR, the treatment effect of AIS with lumbar predominant curvature was higher than that of AIS with thoracic predominant curvature. The treatment effect tended to decrease with increasing AVR. (2) Spinal mid-line deviation was associated with AVR. For patients with AIS with I and II degrees of AVR, the treatment effect of spinal mid-line offset after bracing is better. For AIS patients with AVR III degrees and above, the degree of correction of spinal mid-line offset decreases with the continuous correction of Cobb angle.

Conclusions: The efficacy of AIS was found to be related to the severity of AVR. The efficacy of AIS with predominantly lumbar curvature was significantly higher than that of AIS with predominantly thoracic curvature. The efficacy of treatment of mid-line spinal deviation also decreased with increasing AVR.