The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 78:1056-62 (1996)
© 1996 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.
Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Treatment with the Wilmington Brace. A Comparison of Full-Time and Part-Time Use*
NANNI J. ALLINGTON, M.D. and
J. RICHARD BOWEN, M.D. , WILMINGTON, DELAWARE
Investigation performed at the Alfred I. duPont Institute, Wilmington
We reviewed the clinical records and the radiographs of 188 patients who had adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Our purpose was to determine whether part-time and full-time bracing had been equally effective in preventing progression of the curve. Full-time bracing had been used for ninety-eight patients; part-time bracing, for forty-nine; and electrical stimulation, for forty-one. Eighty-eight patients had had a curve of less than 30 degrees and 100 patients, a curve of 30 to 40 degrees. The treatment was considered a failure if the curve had increased 5 degrees or more.
The curve progressed 5 degrees or more in thirteen (36 per cent) of the thirty-six patients who had had full-time bracing for a curve of less than 30 degrees, in thirteen (41 per cent) of the thirty-two who had had part-time bracing for such a curve, and in fourteen (70 per cent) of the twenty who had had electrical stimulation for such a curve. Compared with electrical stimulation, both full-time and part-time bracing prevented progression significantly more effectively (p < 0.02 and p < 0.04, respectively). With the numbers available, the difference in progression between the groups that had had full-time and part-time bracing was not significant (p < 0.18).
The curve progressed 5 degrees or more in thirty-six (58 per cent) of the sixty-two patients who had had full-time bracing for a curve of 30 to 40 degrees, in ten of the seventeen who had had part-time bracing for such a curve, and in eighteen (86 per cent) of the twenty-one who had had electrical stimulation for such a curve. The difference in progression between each bracing program and electrical stimulation was significant (p < 0.03 for the full-time program and p < 0.05 for the part-time program). With the numbers available, the difference in progression between full-time and part-time bracing was not significant (p < 1.14).

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