The Efficacy of a Novel Hybrid Brace in the Treatment of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Prospective Case-Series Study.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Bracing is an effective treatment for preventing curve progression in skeletally immature adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients. A novel hybrid brace has been developed to overcome the limitations of conventional rigid and soft braces. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of the novel hybrid brace. Methods: We enrolled AIS patients who were candidates for brace treatment: aged 10-18 years, with a coronal Cobb angle of 20-45° and a Risser stage of 0-2. The primary outcome was the rate of successful brace treatment, defined as meeting all three criteria: (1) less than 5° of progression in the Cobb angle during follow-up, (2) less than 45° of Cobb angle at the final follow-up, and (3) avoidance of surgical treatment. Results: A total of 24 patients (1 male, 23 female) with a mean age of 12.2 ± 1.2 years were included in this study. At the initiation of bracing, the major curve had a mean Cobb angle of 34.5 ± 6.3° and an in-brace correction (IBC) rate of 41.5 ± 16.0%. The hybrid brace demonstrated a success rate of 91.7% (22/24) during a mean follow-up period of 22.1 ± 6.4 months. After brace treatment, seven (29.2%) patients showed an improvement of more than 5° in their Cobb angle. When compared to a matched control from a retrospective cohort, the hybrid brace demonstrated a greater success rate (91.7% vs. 83.3%) and a higher proportion of patients with an improved curve (29.2% vs. 12.5%), although statistically insignificant. Conclusions: A novel hybrid brace was effective in preventing curve progression in skeletally immature patients with AIS.