Improvement of pulmonary function parameters in female patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis by Schroth rehabilitative therapy.

Objective: This study investigates if an inpatient rehabilitation therapy (brace therapy and Schroth therapy) for six weeks contributes to an improvement in lung function of the patients.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Scoliosis rehabilitation clinic "Asklepios Katharina-Schroth-Klinik" (Bad Sobernheim, Germany).

Participants: In 253 female patients a lung function examination was performed at entry and at the end of their inpatient rehabilitation stay. Of these, 61 patients underwent Schroth therapy (group 1); 192 patients underwent the combination of brace and Schroth therapy (group 2).

Intervention: Lung function parameters under the influence of Schroth and Schroth and brace therapy within a rehabilitative stay.

Main Measures: The parameters of IVC (inspiratory vital capacity), FVC (forced vital capacity), FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 s) and the Tiffeneau index (FEV/FVC) related to patient-specific reference values were evaluated with regard to potential ventilation disorders.

Results: There were significant improvements for IVC +2.56 %, FVC +3.99 %, FEV1 +2.36 % for the first stay (IVC and FVC 2nd, 3rd stay). The comparison of patients with vs. without additional brace therapy showed no significances. For the long-term analysis the parameters approached the reference values of age-matched, healthy female subjects. The greater the Cobb angle in the thoracic region, the significantly worse almost each of the measured parameters are.

Conclusion: An inpatient rehabilitation therapy contributes to an improvement in lung function (IVC, FVC and FEV1). A second, and even a third, follow-up stay still led to a measurable improvement in lung function, albeit to a lesser extent.