Sforzesco Online Course

Prescription and construction 

of the Sforzesco brace – SPoRT concept

ISICO offers the second edition of the international online course that deals in-depth and practically with the construction (and prescription) of the Sforzesco brace, the first brace of the super-rigid category recently proposed in the SOSORT-SRS-ISPO-POSNA Braces Classification. The Sforzesco brace is also the first brace based on the upwards pushing action according to the SPoRT concept (Symmetric Patient-oriented Rigid Three-dimensional); it introduces the concepts of slope and corrective drivers.

In the past, we have already offered this course in many editions as an in-person learning experience for CPOs (Certified Prosthetist-Orthotists) and physicians working in the Italian national territory. Now, we are ready to reach a much broader audience thanks to the e-learning tools we have been successfully using since 2016 for our International Master course “Principles and Practise of Scoliosis Conservative Treatment (PPSCT)”.

The starting point of the course is the presentation of the Sforzesco brace in its evolution from the first years of application to the current relevant innovations, accompanied and supported by the results of research in ISICO published in indexed international literature.

The course is divided into three modules, with video lectures given by physicians and CPOs collaborating with ISICO to realise the Sforzesco braces.

For those interested, there will be an optional personalised module to build three Sforzesco braces in their orthopaedic workshop under the tutorship of one of our experienced CPOs, remotely connected. The optional module has an additional cost.

This learning opportunity aims to spread the direct experience that ISICO has gathered in these 20 years of clinical practise to over 10,000 patients wearing our braces.

The basis of the decision to offer a decidedly “practical” online course on the prescription and realisation of an orthosis was the very positive experience of the International Master Online, intended primarily for physicians and focused on the “Principles and Practise of Conservative Treatment of Scoliosis”, to manage their patients according to evidence-based medicine (EBM).

The Sforzesco course primarily addresses CPOs engaged in constructing braces and physicians prescribing braces for patients affected by vertebral deformities.

Course Organisation

The course on the construction and prescription of the Sforzesco brace is entirely delivered online, and its development is self-administered through a dedicated online learning platform, so participants can access the course material at a time that suits them. Participants will have three modules and 22 video lectures available, which aim to give all the theoretical and practical bases for the prescription and construction of the Sforzesco brace.

Every single module includes from six to eight recorded lectures where the presentations of the doctors in the evaluation of the patient, which precedes the prescription of a brace, are flanked by the presentations of the orthopaedic technicians who show in their laboratory the manufacturing of a specific brace in its various phases, both through the use of programmes such as Cad/Cam and in the “manual” processing with plaster.
The duration of each lesson varies from 20 to 60 minutes, according to the topic covered.

Each module ends with a recorded lecture given by one of the teaching staff members, who makes a point of the various presentations given, showing clinical cases and the reasoning behind the making of the specific brace presented and the methods of construction, further to tips and hints, dos and don’ts, to pay attention to when constructing a brace.
The transition from one module to another involves mandatory self-assessment quizzes to verify adequate learning of what was accomplished during the lessons.

A live lecture at the end of the year will complete the course and make the point with real clinical cases that will be discussed together.

PROGRAM

Scientific Directors of the Course

Stefano Negrini (ISICO), Guerrino Rosellini (ITOP)

Faculty

Monia Lusini – MD, Orthopaedic Surgeon – ISICO
Stefano Negrini – MD, Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine specialist – ISICO – Sforzesco brace developer
Fabio Zaina – MD, Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine specialist – ISICO

Domenico Pallini – CPO – IMAR Pescara
Guerrino Rosellini – CPO – ITOP Palestrina/Roma
Daniele De Maldè – CPO – ITOP Palestrina/Roma
Fabrizio Tessadri – CPO – Orthotecnica Trento

Module 1

Lectures
1 – Physician: The Sforzesco Brace  –  Historical notes and basic principles
2 – CPO: The Sforzesco Brace: basis of the brace design
3 – Physician: The Sforzesco Brace  –  Evidence
4 – CPO: The building process
5 – Physician: Construction principles and variants
6 – CPO: The Sforzesco brace variants: how to build them

Module 2

Lectures
  7 – Physician: Frontal plane: Theory
  8 – Physician: Frontal plane Clinical cases and examples
  9 – CPO: Thoracic Curves: Design and results
10 – Physician: Sagittal plane: Theory
11 – Physician: Sagittal plane Clinical cases and examples
12 – CPO: Examples of thoracic and lumbar curves: Design and Results
13 – Physician: horizontal plane: Theory with clinical cases and examples
14 – CPO:  Lumbar Curves: Design and results

Module 3

Lectures
15 – Physician: Construction of a Sforzesco brace  –  Common errors
16 – CPO: Building a Sforzesco brace – Common design and building errors
17 – Physician: Differences with the other braces  –  Classification of braces and concepts
18 – CPO: Practical differences with the other braces
19 – Physician: The brace check  –  What to verify and why
20 – CPO: How to correct at the brace check
21 – Physician: Protocols and application
22 – The CPO’s Management of the patient

Live lecture December 2024   Questions & Answers – Clinical Cases 

(to be confirmed)

                                       ( 1 pm to 2.30 pm CET — Central European Time)

If you need more info before applying or if you have any questions please contact us at: getinfo@isico.it

SFORZESCO ONLINE COURSE

APPLICATION FORM

SUPPORTING LITERATURE