Scoliosis axis of a person's spine. In the diagnostic sense, it is defined as a spinal curvature of more than 10° to the right or left as the examiner faces the person, i.e. in the coronal plane. Scoliosis has been described as a biomechanical deformity, the progression of which depends on asymmetric forces otherwise known as the Hueter-Volkmann Law. The traditional medical management of scoliosis is complex and is determined by the severity of the curvature and skeletal maturity, which together help predict the likelihood of progression. The conventional options for children and adolescents are: For adults, treatment usually focuses on
Management of scoliosis of bracing has not been definitively demonstrated in randomised clinical studies, with more limited studies giving inconsistent conclusions. In 2013 the Bracing in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Trial (BrAIST) published results establishing benefits of bracing in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. In the randomized cohort, 72% in the group instructed to wear a brace for 18 hours per day against 48% in the observation group sustained curve progression to under 50 degrees, the proxy used for not requiring surgery. Additionally results suggested that the more a patient wore the brace, the better the result. In progressive infantile and sometimes juvenile scoliosis, a