This protocol applies to patients aged 10–17 years with idiopathic scoliosis, a Cobb angle of 10° to 20°, and a Risser sign of 0 to 3 — a mild spinal curve in a skeletally immature individual where halting progression is the defining clinical priority.
Management at this stage centres on physiotherapeutic scoliosis-specific exercises — a specialised exercise programme targeting spinal correction in three dimensions. The complete protocol describes the full structure and requirements.
DOI: 10.1186/s13013-017-0145-8
It is recommended not to apply bracing to treat patients with curves below 15° ± 5° Cobb, unless otherwise justified in the opinion of a clinician specialized in conservative treatment of spinal deformities.
Under 10° of scoliosis, the diagnosis of scoliosis should not be made.
Physiotherapeutic scoliosis-specific exercises are recommended as the first step to treat idiopathic scoliosis to prevent/limit progression of the deformity and bracing.
It is recommended that physiotherapeutic scoliosis-specific exercises follow SOSORT Consensus and are based on auto-correction in 3D, training in ADL, stabilizing the corrected posture, and patient education.
The study found that scoliosis-specific active self-correction and task-oriented exercises, consistent with SEAS approach, improved Cobb angles by 5.3° at skeletal maturity and that traditional exercises were associated with stable curves.
In the intention-to-treat analysis, on average, the largest Cobb angle decreased by 1.2° in the Schroth and increased by 2.3° in the control group over 6 months, and this difference was statistically significant.
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