Eurospine 2018: ISICO will present two studies

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At the International Eurospine Congress in Barcelona, 19 to 21 September, Dr. Fabio Zaina will present a poster titled Adolescent idiopathic bracing success rates influenced by time in brace: Comparative effectiveness analysis of the BrAIST and ISICO cohorts, while Dr. Francesca Di Felice will deliver an oral presentation about the study, ISYQOL discriminates adolescents with spinal deformities subgroups better than the SRS-22 questionnaire.


‘The first presentation confirms the effectiveness of the brace treatment for patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis at high risk of progression, the efficacy being highly linked to the brace-wearing dosages,’ explains Dr. Di Felice. ‘The final results obtained with the protocols of the ISICO treatment are excellent, also with respect to the data of the BrAIST, the American RCT study which had and has a huge weight in demonstrating the efficacy of the conservative treatment of scoliosis.’
The other study emphasizes how a questionnaire developed in ISICO, the ISYQOL (Italian Spine Youth Quality of Life questionnaire) has proved to be the best quality of life measurement tool for patients with vertebral deformities treated with conservative therapy, compared to the SRS-22, which is currently the gold standard of the quality of life questionnaires for scoliotic subjects.

Sosort Congress: Isico in front row

Sosort Congress: Isico in front row

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There was a massive presence of ISICO specialists at the 13th edition of the International Congress of the Society on Scoliosis Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT) which took place in Dubrovnik, Croatia from 19–21 April.

Over 250 specialists from 38 different countries were present over the various days, while 200 participants took part in the pre-courses, one day prior to the official congress with the topic being clinical approach and research.

“We have presented seven different research papers, for sure we were the group with the largest number of studies”, said Dr. Fabio Zaina, ISICO specialist and SOSORT Past President, “and we were also nominated for the SOSORT Award. Our research concerning the quality of life of braced patients has attracted great interest, a quality that has been measured through the questionnaire we normally hand over in ISICO to our patients. The questionnaire was translated into English and Spanish for this congress and its use is also going to be spread abroad now.”

Among the studies presented we also received positive feedback for our study on scoliosis and adults that showed how the exercises can give results on pain management, for the study with the topic of back pain in children, and for the one that highlighted how sports can have positive effects on scoliosis.

During the congress, our technical director Dr. Michele Romano, passed the baton of presidency to the new president of SOSORT, Luca Stikeleather from the USA, the first orthopedic technician to take on this task.

New Guidelines

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A systematic review of all scientific literature published by leading experts on the treatment of scoliosis led to the recent publication in the journal Scoliosis and Spinal Disorders of the new international guidelines drafted by the International Society for the Treatment of Scoliosis (SOSORT). The previous review was conducted in 2011, while the first publication dates back to 2005.

Among the 21 authors, from countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, Spain, France, Poland, Greece, ISICO represented the largest group with Prof. Stefano Negrini, Scientific Director of ISICO, Dr. Fabio Zaina, Dr. Sabrina Donzelli, and Dr. Michele Romano, Technical Director of ISICO.

“We started from a review of the studies on everything related to the subject of scoliosis, from definitions to therapeutic goals and from the examinations to be carried out, to exercises, to braces and lastly to screening”, explains Dr. Sabrina Donzelli, physiatrist at ISICO, among the authors of the guidelines, “in this way, starting from the available scientific evidence, therapeutic recommendations have been elaborated, summarized in tables, which represent a fundamental tool able to guide the clinician in the ideal therapeutic choices for each patient.”

Tables are an important tool in the treatment of scoliosis as they allow the definition of therapeutic levels with respect to the age or entity of the pathology, e.g. the treatment can range from simple observation of minimum curves to the recommendation to wear a brace for up to 24 hours.

“It is a document of great importance for all professionals in the treatment of scoliosis”, continues Dr. Donzelli, “available online, in English, useful even for patients and their families. Considering the immense amount of work that is behind the guidelines, it was decided to divide in the future next editions into sub-chapters, for example scoliosis in adults, braces only, or exercises only.”

“To conclude, I would like to underline that the recommendations of the guidelines”, Dr. Donzelli tells us, “must always be accompanied by the experience of the professional team, from the doctor to the orthopedic technician, as scoliosis is a complex pathology. The guidelines recommend that scoliosis should always be treated by experienced professionals. The experience of each professional is defined by a minimum number of visits and patients that must be visited/treated each year. The guidelines also recommend using therapies in which one is skilled in order to guarantee better patient management and promote therapeutic success.”