[Therapy of scoliosis from a historical perspective]

Scoliosis can be considered as one of the classical orthopedic diseases of the spine. The history of orthopedics is closely connected to the development of the therapy of scoliosis. In the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries the therapy of scoliosis was mainly a conservative corrective orthopedic treatment with a variety of corset forms and extension bed treatment. In the middle of the nineteenth century physiotherapy (movement therapy) became established as an supplementary active treatment. The first operations for treatment of scoliosis were carried out in 1839. The real success with surgical procedures for improvement in corrective options was connected to the introduction of metal spinal implants in the early 1960s.