Postural Re-Education of Scoliosis - State of the Art (Mini-review)

Abstract

A new development of correcting exercises has been derived from the original Schroth program in 2010 and the preliminary results have been published that year. Since then the program has been applied in some centers worldwide. As the original Schroth program was the only program so far to improve many signs and symptoms of scoliosis besides the angle of curvature (Cobb angle) it was interesting to look for the preliminary results of the recent development of scoliosis pattern specific corrective exercises derived from the original program, to see if similar effects can be achieved with this less complicated method.

Methods: A manual search in Pubmed was conducted, using the key words, Schroth, rehabilitation, and idiopathic scoliosis. Three papers have been found describing the short-term results of this new development today called Schroth Best Practice program (SBP). The papers were reviewed and analyzed with respect to the outcome parameters used.

Results: Outcome parameters were Angle of Trunk Rotation (ATR), Vital Capacity (VC), surface topography, electromyography, stabilometry and Cobb angle before and after a course of treatment. There was a significant improvement of all parameters after the application of this new program in all the three papers in the short- to mid-term.

Conclusions: Scoliosis corrective exercises are supported by two randomized controlled trials (RCT) and should regularly be applied in mild scoliosis at risk for progression. Unspecific exercises such as Yoga, Dobomed cannot be regarded as effective as exercises using a well defined scoliosis pattern specific corrective routine.