Telephysiotherapy in Isico: the published research

In this pandemic year a lot has changed in our daily habits, much in the way we work. Something also in the way we treat patients.

It was a way not to leave our patients alone and not to waste the efforts made.

We learnt a lot and this also translated into the research, published recently by the Spine Journal, "Lessons learnt in two months of the exclusive application of telephysiotherapy instead of classical physiotherapy during the lockdown in Italy"...

Dr Ioana Rotaru shares her experience

In each number of our newsletter, we present the experiences of fellow doctors, physiotherapists, and orthopaedic technicians from all over the world to share the knowledge and learn one from the other.

This interview is for Ioana Rotaru, a Romanian medical doctor.

"I am working for sixteen years within the children's department of ACASA Rehabilitation Centre Zalau belonging to a Romanian-Dutch Foundation, a Centre with national addressability. I started as a paediatrician and after 3 years, to diversify my professional knowledge, I graduated as a physiotherapist...".

Isico Pills: a new video format

for expert professionals

Isico launches a new video format designed for expert professionals, namely, doctors and therapists. Each "science pill" lasts 1 minute and can be watched in our YouTube channel.

For several years now, we have had a Youtube channel called IsicoTv. Over time, these insights intended for patients, have been created on various topics related to vertebral pathologies, from scoliosis to back pain.

With this new series of pills, we are filling a gap with quick and concrete information passed from professionals to fellow professionals.

Watch the first Isico Pills with English subtitles and share our science pills with #isicopills on social networks.

Brace competition 2020:

winners awarded

An online live show full of emotion was held on Saturday 13 March to award the winners of the 2020 Brace competition - "Concorsetto".

Prof Stefano Negrini, clinical and scientific director of Isico and Michele Romano, director of physiotherapy, conducted the appointment, where the winning patients have been presented and awarded by their own doctors and physiotherapists showing a short extract of their work: a drawing, a video or a written text.

Different classified categories: awarded by the internal jury, by Facebook likes and the category of the youngest ones.

This short video brings together all of the more than 50 participating works.

Watch the video

eSosort2021: scheduled from April 29 to May 1

Despite the pandemic, the International Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT) does not stop and proposes its annual international conference online from 29 April to 1 May, giving an in-person appointment to 2022 in Spain for the event in attendance.

Isico will also participate with several specialists who will present their reports...

Fabio Zaina member of EUROSPINE task force

Dr Fabio Zaina, a physiatrist in Isico, is part of the faculty of the Task Force Interprofessional Spine Care experts involved in this new e-learning opportunity.

The EUROSPINE Diploma in Interprofessional Spine Care (EDISC) is aimed at developing expertise and empowering spine care professionals of all specialities.

This people-centred education activity, developed by an interprofessional team of experts with guidance from medical education specialists promotes collaborative care using evidence-based best practice to improve patient outcomes.

The course is addressed to European healthcare professionals who graduated as clinicians from a recognized institution.

For more info: https://www.eurospine.org/edisc.htm

SRS research evaluates AIS brace management

The research "Scoliosis Research Society survey: brace management in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis" has just been published by the journal Spine Deformities.
While the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) has established criteria for brace initiation in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), there are no recommendations concerning other management issues. As the BrAIST study reinforced the utility of bracing, the SRS Non-Operative Management Committee decided to evaluate the consensus or discord in AIS brace management developing this research...

Scoliosis: what position to sleep in?

The determination of parents, and patients, to find ways of counteracting the progression of scoliosis often leads them to come up with questions, and to look for as many new strategies as they can.

One of the issues they raise concerns the awkward and "twisted" positions that children and adolescents tend to adopt when relaxing on the sofa or bed, or when they are writing, and so on. Do these positions affect scoliosis in any way, and can they even cause it? And what about the sleeping positions they adopt during the night?

What is scapular winging?
The medial borders of shoulder blades (scapulae), i.e. the two triangular bones located on either side of the spinal column, can sometimes be raised from the trunk, making these bones appear more prominent. This defect often referred to as scapular winging, is usually bilateral and mainly affects youngsters aged 12-14 years.

Scapular winging in itself is not really a problem, but it is important to be aware that any asymmetry of the shoulder blades can indicate more serious disorders affecting the spine.

An excellent way to exclude, or detect, a scoliotic curve is to have the youngster bend forwards with the knees kept straight and the arms hanging down.
Once he/she is bent forwards as far as possible, look to see if a protuberance (hump) has appeared on his/her back, to one side of the spine, making that side of the back look higher than the other.

Does curve pattern impact on the effects of physiotherapeutic scoliosis specific exercises on Cobb angles of participants with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: A prospective clinical trial with two years follow-up

Yunli Fan, Michael K T To, Eric H K Yeung, Jianbin Wu, Rong He, Zhuoman Xu, Ruiwen Zhang, Guangshuo Li, Kenneth M C Cheung, Jason P Y Cheung

PMID: 33493172 PMCID: PMC7833215 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245829

March 29 - 27 - SRS Webinar for Professionals | Scoliosis and Intraspinal Anomalies/Dural Ectasia: Case-Based Debate
April 9-11 Spine Society of Australia 32nd Annual Meeting| Sydney, Australia
April 23-25 - SRS 28th International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques (IMAST) Live Sessions | Virtual