Adding corrective exercises along with bracing for postural hyperkyphosis among adolescents: A randomized controlled...

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Physical Therapy
• Radiology

Background:

• Thoracic hyperkyphosis is a condition affecting adolescents.
• Current treatments like corrective exercises and bracing aim to improve this condition.
• No prior studies have directly compared the efficacy of combined exercises and bracing versus bracing alone.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of corrective exercises combined with bracing against bracing alone in reducing the Cobb angle of thoracic kyphosis.
• To evaluate the impact of these interventions on adolescent thoracic hyperkyphosis.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 180 adolescents with thoracic hyperkyphosis.
• Participants were assigned to three groups: corrective exercises plus bracing, bracing alone, or a waitlist control.
• Interventions lasted 24 weeks, with outcomes measured by Cobb angle via spinal radiographs.

Main Results:

• All groups showed significant differences in Cobb angle post-intervention (p < .001).
• The corrective exercise plus bracing group achieved a greater reduction in Cobb angle (15.5°) compared to the bracing only group (8.8°) (p < .001).
• Both intervention groups demonstrated significant improvement over the control group, which showed a slight increase in kyphosis (1.2°).

Conclusions:

• Combining corrective exercises with bracing offers superior outcomes for reducing thoracic kyphosis in adolescents compared to bracing alone.
• This combined approach is more effective than bracing solely for improving the Cobb angle.
• The findings support the integration of corrective exercises into bracing protocols for managing thoracic hyperkyphosis.